YAWL 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, f 



A HISTORY 

OF THE 

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 

MADISON, N.J. 

DELIVERED ON 

THANKSGIVING DAY, NOVEMBER/2 3 ; 1854, 

BY THE ' / 

/ 

REV, SAMUEL L. TUTTLE, 



NEW YORK: 
PUBLISHED BY M. W. DODD, 

CORNER SPRUCE ST. AND CITY HALL SQUARE. 

1855. 



Madison, November 25, 1854. 

Rev. Samuel L. Tuttle, — 

Respected and Esteemed Pastor : — The historical 
discourse which you were kind enough to present to us on 
Thanksgiving Day, the 23d instant, in relation to the rise and 
progress of this church and congregation, excited in our minds 
a very great degree of interest ; and we take this method of 
saying to you, that the service which you have, in this way, 
rendered to this community, and especially to ourselves and 
our fellow-parishioners, is held by us all, in high appreciation. 
Believing, too, that if the facts embodied in that discourse 
could be given to the public, in a permanent form, many 
important interests would be subserved, we take the liberty of 
asking you — as we do most respectfully — to place a copy of it 
at our disposal, with a view to its publication. 

With sentiments of sincere respect and esteem, 



H. P. GREEN, 
WILLIAM M. MUCHMORE, 
ROBERT ALBRIGHT, 
JOHN B. MILLER, 
EVERETT H. GREEN, 
JAMES ALBRIGHT, 
LEWIS THOMPSON, 
ALBERT CARTER, 
JOHN KNAPP, 
GEORGE E. SAYRE, 
AMZA W. GENUNG, 
CHARLES C. FORCE, 
STEPHEN D. HUNTING. 
LUTHER EDDY, 
JOSEPH S. SAYRE, 
HENRY KEEP, 
EDWIN BURROUGHS, 
SAMUEL D. BURNET, 
GEORGE COLE, 
DAVID H. ROBERTS, 



Yours, &c, 

ABRAHAM BRITTIN, 
ASHBEL CARTER, 
WILLIAM BRITTIN, 
SAMUEL ROBERTS, Jr., 
LEWIS M. BROWNING, 
DAVID M. FORCE, 
JONATHAN B. BRUEN, 
IRA BURNET, 
CALEB C. BURROUGHS, 
GEORGE T. SAYRE, 
AARON CARTER, 
WILLIAM P. CONKLIN, 
DENNIS F. CROWELL, 
WM. JACKSON BRITTIN, 
DAVID L. MILLLER, 
SMITH S. HOLLOWAY, 
ALFRED BRITTIN, 
ICHABOD BRUEN, 
CHARLES ROSS, 
JOHN JOHNSTON. 



NOTE. 



In yielding to the wishes of his respected and esteemed 
parishioners, in reference to the publication of the following 
" Historical Discourse," the Author begs leave to state, that, in 
its original preparation, he had not the most remote conception 
that any such use would ever be made of it ; but that his simple 
and sole object was, the gratification and encouragement of his 
congregation, on the occasion of its first delivery. It was, at 
that time, contained within the limits of an ordinary discourse. 
Since its publication has been suggested, however, it has seemed 
to him, that, by adding a few facts, and going somewhat more 
into detail than he did at first, a service might be rendered, at 
least to the people of his charge, by converting it into a small 
book of reference for their use. This will account for the 
greatly increased length of the discourse ; and also for the fact, 
that so many things have been introduced, which would not have 
been suitable for the pulpit, and which were not in it, on the 
occasion when it was first presented. 

The Author has no other object in giving up these researches 
to his people's disposal, than to subserve their interests as a 
society, and to preserve matters of history pertaining to the 
pious and self-sacrificing efforts of their ancestors, which he 
thinks ought not to be lost. 



Uttwx&t. 



" Then Samuel took a stone, and set it up between Mizpeh and 
Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath 
the Lord helped us.' ? — 1 Samuel vii. 12. 

The occasion of this incident was a celebrated 
victory, gained by the Israelites over their ene- 
mies, the Philistines. The Israelites, by their 
sins, having provoked the divine displeasure, 
Samuel assembled their tribes at Mizpeh, about 
eighteen miles northwest of Jerusalem, with a 
view to their making confession of their sins, and 
securing the divine forgiveness. The Philistines, 
hearing of this great convocation, and supposing 
that they were making preparations to give them 
battle, went up against them with a very great 
army, and encamped before Mizpeh. The Israelites, 
having been taken by surprise, were alarmed, and 
besought Samuel to cry unto the Lord for their de- 



6 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

liverance, "And Samuel cried unto the Lord, and 
the Lord heard him ;" and when the Philistines 
drew near to battle against Israel, " the Lord 
thundered with a great thunder" upon the Philis- 
tines and discomfited them. "And the men of 
Israel went out of Mizpeh, and pursued the Philis- 
tines, and smote them until they came under 
Beth Car." 

In these circumstances it was that Samuel per- 
formed the act recorded in the text. Deeply im- 
pressed with the conviction that the victory thus 
secured was from G-od, " he took a stone, and set 
it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name 
of it Ebenezer," or the stone of help, "saying, 
hitherto hath the Lord helped us.' " 

This act of Samuel is worthy of the imitation 
of all those who have experienced peculiar bless- 
ings at the hand of Grod ; and I have thought it 
not altogether inappropriate to our own circum- 
stances as a Christian church and congregation ; 
and for this reason I have selected it as a guide to 
our thoughts on the present occasion. Having 
sprung from an origin comparatively humble ; 
having been obliged to contend with great difficul- 
ties ; and having, by the blessing of Grod, attained 



PEESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 7 

our present state of influence and general prosper- 
ity ; it becomes us, as much as it became Israel, 
to pause a little in our way, and, "setting up our 
Ebenezer," or li stone of help," say, with devout 
and heartfelt gratitude, " Hitherto hath the Lord 
helped us." 

A brief review of the history of this church and 
congregation will show us the extent of our in- 
debtedness to our divine Benefactor; and lead Us, 
it is to be hoped, to a more cordial and unreserved 
consecration of ourselves to his service. 

The section of country which we are inhabiting 
was first settled in the year 1685 ; about twenty 
years after the settlement of Elizabethtown and 
Newark. The first settlers were principally from 
the places just named ; though some of them are 
known to have come here from the New England 
States, Long Island, and England. Attracted by 
the fine, open character of the country, but more 
especially by the iron ore imbedded in our hills, a 
few enterprising men brought their families over, 
what was then called, " the great mountain of 
Watchung," afterwards the " Newark mountain 
and located themselves at different points in this 
vicinity. Large tracts of land were purchased by 



8 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 



many of them, of the old i 1 New Jersey Proprie- 
tors and while some of them devoted themselves 
to the clearing and cultivation of the soil, others 
engaged in the manufacture of iron. 

At a very early period, a great deal of capital 
and skill were employed in the business of making 
iron ; and for this purpose a considerable number 
of forges* were constructed and put in operation 
within the present limits of our county. This, 
doubtless, contributed largely towards the original 
settlement of this entire region. 

Among the first settlers in this immediate vicin- 
ity were Benjamin Carter ;t Jeremiah G-enung ; 

* One of these forges stood on the site of the mills belonging 
to Mr. Samuel Roberts at Green Village ; another near the grist- 
mill in Chatham village ; another on the Whippany river ; another 
in Troy ; another in " Old Boonton another at Rockaway ; and 
others at Hibernia, Split-Rock and elsewhere. These establish- 
ments gave to this region formerly the name of ''the Old Forges," 
by which it continued to be known for many years. 
>: The ore that was used in these forges was carried from the 
mines on the backs of horses : and after it was manufactured into 
iron, it was carried in the same way over the mountain to Eliza- 
bethtown and Newark. 

f This gentleman was the first owner of the land now occupied 
by the village of Madison ; and his residence was on the corner by 
the toll-gate, since owned by Capt, Mallaby. He built the first 
grist-mill that was ever put up in this vicinity. This stood a few 
feet below the present site of Springer and Lehman's steam mill ; 
the mill-dam being built across the valley, a few yards above 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 9 

Josiah Broadwell ; Theophilus and Josiah Miller ; 
Silas, Stephen and Josiah Hand ; Abraham and 
David Cory ; Benjamin Ladner ; Lemuel Hedges ; 
Zebedee and Moses Potter ; Aaron, James and 
David Burnet ; Jonathan Thompson ; Horick Ben- 
jamin ; Samuel Marsh; John Muchmore ; John, 
Samuel and Nathaniel Roberts ; Joseph Wingate ; 
Daniel, Paul and Stephen Day ; Obadiah Lum ; 
David Bruen ; Jabez Linsley ; Israel, Thomas and 
David Ward ; Nathaniel and Benjamin Bonnel ; 
and others, whose descendants are living in our 
midst. Some of these persons came here from 
New England, and some from Long Island ; but 
the great majority of them were from the vicinity 
of Elizabethtown and Newark. They were, for the 
most part, consequently, of New England origin • 
The principal centre of these settlements, at 
that time, and for many years subsequently, was 
on the Whipponong river, # where the village of 

that point, and flowing the lands lying north of the village to a 
considerable depth during the rainy season, it being entirely dry 
duringthe summer. When this mill was abandoned, a horse mill 
took its place. 

* The Whipponong river received its name from a tribe o 1 * 
Indians — the Whipponongs, who formerly lived and ranged on its 
banks. 

1* 



10 PEESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

Whippany now stands. Around this point, there 
came, in the progress of years, to be collected a 
very considerable population ; and in the year 
1700, a township* was set off here, bearing the 
name of the river above mentioned, and embracing 
all that territory which is now included in the 
townships of Morris, Chatham, and Hanover. 
This new township was then within the limits of 
the county of Hunterdon,! which at that time 
embraced all the territory within the present 
county of that name, and that, also, which is now 
in the counties of Morris, Sussex, and Warren. 

The first church ever organized in what is now 
the county of Morris, was the old Presbyterian 
church in Whippany, which was formed about 
the year 1718. At that time, this entire region 
was almost an uninterrupted wilderness. Indian 
tribes were ranging over these hills and valleys, 
and beasts of prey were roaming without molesta- 

* The township of Whipponong changed its name to that of 
Hanover, about the year 1740. 

f The county of Morris was set off from the county of Hunter- 
don by an act of the Assembly in the year 1738 ; and at that 
time, and for several years afterwards, it embraced all the terri- 
tory within its present limits, as well as that of the counties of 
Sussex and Warren. 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 11 

tion through almost unbroken forests. There 
were but few farms cleared and cultivated ; there 
were but few dwellings erected ; the population 
was very sparsely distributed over the territory, 
and there were but few conveniences and priv- 
ileges enjoyed. Morristown had not then begun 
to be considered even a village. Having com- 
menced only about ten years before this time, it 
was not until about sixty years afterwards that it 
contained a population of two hundred and fifty. 
Newark, which had been settled about forty years, 
by persons from Connecticut, at that time con- 
tained a population of less than three hundred ; 
and Elizabethtown, which was then the centre of 
trade for this part of New Jersey, was, compara- 
tively, but an insignificant village. In Basking- 
ridge, some Scotch Presbyterian families, who had 
settled there, were worshipping in a log meeting- 
house, which they had erected a year or two pre- 
viously. In the village of Springfield, there were 
but three dwelling-houses standing ; and the resi- 
dents were considered as belonging to the congre- 
gation in Elizabethtown : whither, it is said, they 
were accustomed to walk on the Sabbath, in order 
to attend divine worship. Bloomfield, Orange, and 



12 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

Belleville, were small outskirt settlements belong- 
ing to the First Presbyterian Church in Newark. 
The villages of Hanover, Parsippany, New Ver- 
non, Boonton, and Chatham, were not yet in exist- 
ence. There were no houses of worship of any 
order, in either of the places which have just been 
named ; nor in Morristown, Hockaway, Mend- 
ham, Grreen Tillage, or this place, which, at 
that time, and for many years subsequently, was 
called Bottle Hill.* The only church that 
existed in all this wide extent of country, was the 
one referred to in Whippany. That church, which 
was a plain wooden structure, covered on all sides 

* With respect to the origin of the name, "Bottle Hill," there 
are various traditions. One is, that it was first called "Battle 
Hill," from some great battle that was fought near the present 
academy, by hostile tribes of Indians. Another is, that two 
Indians, in quarrelling near the spring in that vicinity, broke a 
bottle, from which circumstance it is thought by some to have 
taken its name. Another, and the most plausible, as well as the 
most ignoble one is, that a bottle suspended from a sign-post, at an 
early period in the history of this place, designated the first 
tavern that was ever kept here. That tavern was located on the 
corner, subsequently the property of Mr. Ellis Cook, opposite the 
academy. In corroboration of this theory, it is stated that 
Major Luke Miller, who died in this place a few years since, at 
the advanced age of ninety-three, stated that he remembered to 
have seen the bottle suspended there, as above described, for sev- 
eral years during the period of his youth. 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 13 



with shingles, and without spire or cupola, stood 
on the present burying-plot in that village, in front 
of the residence of Mr. Calvin Howell, and adjoin- 
ing the homestead of Mr. Silas Tuttle. The first 
pastor of that church was the Rev. Nathaniel 
Hubbel,* who was ordained and installed by the 
Presbytery of Philadelphia, and who remained 
there for about thirteen years. The second was 
the Rev. John Nutman, who was settled in 1730, 
and left in 1745, having been there for a period of 
about fifteen years. The third was the Rev. Jacob 
Green, f father of the late Dr. Ashbel Green, of 

* At that time Mr. Hubbel preached both for the church in 
Whippany, or, as it was then called, " East Hanover," and the Pres 
by terian church in Westfield. Both congregations were then very, 
feeble, and they were obliged to resort to this method, in order 
to avail themselves of the labors of a stated minister. The prob- 
ability is, that Mr. Hubbel preached on alternate Sabbaths in 
these two places. 

f Rev. Mr. Green continued to preach in the old church at 
Whippany until the year 1755, about eight years after the church 
in Madison was organized ; when, by the advice of the Presbytery 
of New York, with which the church was at that time connected, 
the congregation built two houses of worship, one in Parsippany, 
the other in Hanover Neck (the old church befng entirely given 
up), and Mr. Green continued to preach in both churches until 
that part of the congregation at Parsippany called the Rev. James 
Tuttle to become their pastor, when he confined his labors to 
Hanover Neck until the time of his death, which occurred about 
the year 1790. 



14 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 



Philadelphia, who was settled in 1746, and con- 
tinued the pastor of the church for the period of 
forty-four years. To that place the inhabitants of 
all this region repaired on the Sabbath day to 
worship Grod ; many of them being obliged to 
travel for this purpose six, eight, and, in some 
instances, even ten miles. 

In or about the year 1740, during the ministry 
of the Rev. Mr. Nutman, a small and very feeble 
church was organized and established in Morris- 
town,* or, as it was then called, West Hano- 
ver," by members of the old Whippany parish, 
residing in that vicinity. This was the First 
Presbyterian church in that village, of which the 

* That church was organized in the face of the most strenuous 
opposition. The ground of the opposition was, the supposed 
inability of the eastern portion of the old congregation to support 
a pastor without the assistance of the western. The matter was 
in agitation for several years 5 the Presbytery was called together 
to give their counsel in reference to it ; and it is said that the 
eastern part of the parish proposed to decide it by " the casting of 
lots." The lot was cast, and it was decided that the proposed 
society should not be organized. The inhabitants of Morristown, 
or West Hanover,*however, having, at the outset, declared their 
unwillingness to have the matter determined in this way, at length 
carried their point, and were organized into a church in the year 
already mentioned, and received into connection with the old 
Presbytery of New York. See " Records of the Presbyterian 
Church," pages 102, 108 and 143. 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 15 

Rev. Messrs. Johnes, Richards, Fisher, Barnes, 
Kirtland, and others, have been pastors, and which 
has grown to be one of the most able and important 
churches in our land. 

About seven years after the formation of the 
church in Morristown, those who resided in the 
southern part of the old Whippany congrega- 
tion, finding it inconvenient to attend church at so 
great a distance, and being dissatisfied with the 
project, which was then in agitation, of erecting a 
new meeting-house in Hanover Neck, in place of 
the old one at Whippany, drew off from the parent 
society, and organized the church and congrega- 
tion with which we are now connected. This was 
in or about the year 1747 ; and it appears to have 
been done in opposition to the judgment and ad- 
vice of the Presbytery of New York, with which 
the Whippany society was at that time connected. 
The Rev. Jacob Grreen was then the pastor of the 
parent church, having been settled there in that 
capacity about one year previously. This district 
of country was at that time a part of the town- 
ship of Hanover ; and for this reason the new 
church in this place very properly assumed the 
name of " the Presbyterian Church of South Han- 



16 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 



over,"* which it retained for about seventy years. 
The congregation, at the commencement, was 
necessarily very feeble, the number of church 
members was small, and there were but few in 

m 

this entire vicinity who were able to contribute 
much to the maintenance of Christian ordinances. 
For a year or two, the congregation worshipped in 
barns and private houses ; and sometimes, when 
the weather would admit of it, in the open air ; 
until, sometime in the year 1748, f the project was 
proposed of erecting a house of worship. After a 
great deal of consultation, and much persevering 
and self-sacrificing effort on the part of the peo- 
ple residing in this vicinity, a subscription was 

* In the old records of the Presbyterian church, Hanover, the 
Rev. Mr. Green speaks of the formation of this church in the fol- 
lowing words. After stating that his settlement at Whippany 
occurred in November, 1746, he adds : " The meeting-house on the 
Whippany river was old and small ; and there were, about that 
time, proposals made for building a new one. But some families 
in the south end of the town and neighboring parts, thinking they 
should not be suited with the position of the meeting-house in 
Hanover Neck, went off, contrary to the endeavors of the Presby- 
tery, and erected a new meeting-house in the south end of the 
town, which has been called South HanoverP 

A similar statement, in the hand-writing of the Rev. Aaron 
Condit, Mr. Green's successor, is also in the old records of the 
church at Hanover. 

f See Historical Collections of New J se , p 377. 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 17 

started ; and some time in the course of the year 
1749, nearly two years after the organization of 
the society, the church edifice was commenced. 
The work advanced, however, but slowly ; and at 
one time, on account of the want of means to pro- 
ceed, it was actually arrested, until, by the prompt 
and decided action of one of the original settlers * 
of this place, who said that " if the congregation 
would not complete the work, he would do it him- 
self," it was resumed, and the building was at 
length inclosed. It was then seated in a very 
rude manner, with boards or slabs, and with a 
plain pulpit ; and in this condition it appears to 
have been occupied for a period of about fifteen 
years, when the congregation appointed a com- 
mittee to " superintend the finishing of the meet- 
ing-house ;" and gave certain individuals, who are 
named, permission to construct pews for their own 
accommodation in different parts of the church, 
next to the walls, both below and in the gallery. 
This, accordingly, was effected during the year 
following ; and the church, consequently, may be 
regarded as having been completed in the course 
of the year 1765. 

* Mr. Luke Carter, grandfather of Mr. Ashbel Carter. 



18 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

The site selected for the meeting-house, was 
the crown of the hill, on the south side of the 
burying-ground, within about a hundred yards of 
the deep cut through which the Morris and Essex 
Railroad now passes. The main road through 
the village at that time passed over the hill, upon 
which the church was built, and immediately in 
front of it, instead of through it, as it does now. 




THE OLD MEETING-HOUSE. 

The church, located on this beautiful eminence, 
and, after so many years, at length completed as 
above described, was a much smaller and plainer 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 19 

edifice than the one in which we now worship. 
Its dimensions were forty-eight feet by fifty, and 
when it was regularly seated, it was capable of 
accommodating about four hundred and fifty per- 
sons. It was an unpretending and almost square 
wooden structure ; covered on all sides with shin- 
gles, and without spire or cupola. It had a gal- 
lery, extending around on three sides, and was 
finished with large and very high square pews 
next to the walls, entirely around the house, both 
above and below, the body of the house being 
occupied with single slips, which were construct- 
ed with very high and perpendicular backs. The 
lower part of the house was divided by three 
aisles, which ran north and south ; and a very 
plain, and rather high and small five-sided pulpit, 
resting on a single pillar, and surmounted by a 
somewhat elaborately fashioned sounding-board, 
stood in the northeast end of the building. Un- 
der the pulpit was a large, square pew, called the 
" deacons' pew," in which the deacons of the 
church, as well as the choristers, were accus- 
tomed to sit. A single front door communicated 
with the street, and another, on the southeastern 
side, communicated with the burying-ground. A 



20 PRESBYTER! A.N CHURCH, MADISON. 

staircase went up into the gallery on either side 
of the main entrance ; over which and nearly up 
to the ceiling were two very large square pews, 
which, to persons below, had the appearance of a 
second gallery, and which, to many who are still 
living, are somewhat memorable, not only for the 
names by which they were designated, but also 
for the misdeeds of which they were sometimes 
witnesses. A large, open, and level green plat 
lay in front of the house, on which stood a ma- 
jestic wild cherry-tree, and a number of gigantic 
white oaks, which had been saved when the adja- 
cent grounds were wrested from the dominion of 
the primeval forest. In the rear of the house, 
and on either side of it. were the unpretending 
freestone monuments — then comparatively few in 
number — of those who had already been lt gath- 
ered to their fathers." 

Such was the sanctuary which our fathers first 
erected for the worship of Grod on this 61 beautiful 
hill of Zion and thither did they continue to 
repair from Sabbath to Sabbath for nearly seventy 
years, before any other place of worship was erect- 
ed within the limits of this township ; the entire 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 21 

church-going portion of our population assembling 
there to record their vows before God. 

For nearly three years after the organization 
of the church, the congregation were unable to 
avail themselves of the labors of a stated pastor ; 
and were obliged to look to the Presbytery of New 
York and to other sources for occasional supplies. 
Young men just licensed to preach the gospel, 
ministers without charge, and sometimes the pas- 
tors of neighboring churches, would spend a Sab- 
bath with them, and break unto them the bread 
of life ; but they were obliged, not unfrequently, 
during this early period of their history, to con- 
duct divine worship themselves, without the assist- 
ance of a minister ; the officers and leading mem- 
bers of the church alternating, in reading a ser- 
mon, and in exhortation and prayer. 

Early in the year 1750, the congregation hav- 
ing heard the Rev. NehemiAh G-reenman*, a 
young licentiate of the Presbytery of Suffolk, L. I., 

* In the Records of the Presbytery of Suffolk, for April 6, 1750, 
there is the following minute : — " Rev. Nehemiah Greenman was 
dismissed to accept a call to the new society in South Hanover, 
N. J." For this, and for the fact of Mr. Greenman's settlement 
here, the author is indebted to the Rev. Richard Webster, of 
Mauch Chunk, Pa. 



22 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

they invited him to preach for them as a stated 
supply. Mr. Grreenman was a native of Long 
Island ; was licensed to preach by the Suffolk 
Presbytery, October, 3, 1748 ; and was ordained 
while here, by the Presbytery of New York. He 
continued to labor in this congregation, in the 
capacity already stated, for nearly two years, 
when he withdrew to engage in the same labors 
elsewhere. From the " Records of the Presbyte- 
rian Church," pages 248 and 260, we discover that 
during the year 1753 and 1754, he preached in 
several instances by appointment of the Synod of 
New York, for the church in Hanover, Virginia ; 
and he is known to have been subsequently the 
pastor of the Presbyterian church in Pilesgrove — 
now Pittsgrove — in this State, and to have lived to 
a good old age. 

The first regular pastor of this church was the 
Rev. Azaejah Horton. He was a native of 
Southold, Long Island ; and he graduated at Yale 
College, New Haven, in the year 1735. In the 
year 1741, he was licensed to preach the gospel, 
and ordained by the Presbytery of New York, as a 
missionary among the Indians. In this capacity he 
labored for a number of years, until the year 1750, 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 23 

when he was invited to supply a Church on Long 
Island, and became connected with the Presbytery 
of Suffolk. There he continued for about a year, 
when he was called to become the pastor of the 
Church in this place. From the records of the old 
Synod of New York, and, subsequently, of the 
Synod of New York and Philadelphia, it appears 
that he was generally present at the annual meet- 
ings of those bodies, and that he was a prominent 
and active member of them up to the very year 
of his death. He was a member of the old Synod 
of Philadelphia when the Presbytery of New York, 
which was formerly connected with that body, 
protested against the act of the Synod in exscinding 
the Presbytery of New Brunswick ; he was one of 
the ten ministers whose names appear on that pro- 
test ; and he was one of the most prominent and 
active of those who afterwards organized the 
Synod of New York. He was. for many years, 
also, a member of the " Commission of the 
Synod," as it was called — a committee ap- 
pointed from year to year, to attend to the Synod's 
business during the intervals between its regular 
annual meetings ; and he did much towards the 
founding of the u College of New Jersey," which, 



24 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

it will be remembered, occurred in the year 1746, 
about a year previous to the organization of this 
church. 

Mr. Horton was installed as the pastor of this 
church in the year 1751 ; and after laboring in 
this relation for a period of twenty-five years, he 
was dismissed, at his own request, in the month 
of November, 1776. About five months after his 
dismission, he was seized with that terrible 
scourge, the small-pox, and on the 27th of March, 
1777, he died, at the house of his son, Foster 
Horton, who was then residing and keeping a 
store in Chatham village. The death of Mr. 
Horton occurred one year after the commence- 
ment of the Revolutionary War ; and he was 
buried in our beautiful cemetery ; his grave, which 
is covered with a freestone slab, standing on col- 
umns of the same material, being immediately in 
the rear of the old pulpit, in which he had so often 
officiated as a minister of Jesus Christ. * 

While he was the pastor of this church, his sal- 

* On Mr. Horton' s monument, which is standing in the cemetery 
in Madison, is the following inscription : — " In memory of the Rev. 
Azariah Horton. for 25 years pastor of this church. Died, March 
27, 1777, aged 62 years." This would make his settlement here in 
the early part of 1752, or the latter part of 1751. 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 25 

ary being small — never amounting to more than 
seventy pounds, or one hundred and seventy-five 
dollars, per annum, — his wife, Mrs. Eunice Hor- 
ton, in order to make up for the deficiency in the 
means for their support,* opened a store on the cor- 
ner since occupied by Mr. Benjamin Birdsall, and 
without encumbering hiui in the least degree with 
its management, she is said, not only to have 
made out a handsome support for the family, but 
also to have accumulated enough to enable her to 
make the purchase of a valuable farm. She was 
a very energetic and well-educated woman ; and 
in every respect a worthy " helpmeet" of the 
pioneer minister of this place.! About a year and 

* The building in which this store was kept, was afterwards 
converted into a school-house ; and for this purpose it was used 
for several years. 

f The writer is indebted for many of the facts recorded 
here, in relation to the early history of this place, to Mr. Azariah 
Carter, who was born in the year 1767, and who is still living in 
this vicinity, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years. He was 
named from the first pastor of this church, and remembers him 
well, having been about ten years of age at the time of his death. 
He is also indebted to Deacon Ichabod Bruen, Mrs. Mary Richards, 
Captain Luke Carter, and Mrs. Susan Vanderbilt, who are still 
living in this place ; and all of whom are over eighty years of 
age. He is under obligations, moreover, to Messrs. William and 
Abraham Brittin, Dr. H. P. Green, Mrs. Rachel Sayre, Ashbel 
Carter, and others. 

2 



26 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

a half after her husband's death, she also died, 
while an inmate of her son's family in Chatham, 
at the age of fifty-six years, and she was buried in 
our cemetery, her name and that of her husband 
being inscribed on the same monument. 

Mr. Horton had two sons. One of these was 
killed while serving his country in the Revolution- 
ary War. The other, Mr. Foster Horton, lived, as 
before stated, in Chatham village, and was for 
several years afterwards a prominent and effi- 
cient member of this parish. He left, also, several 
daughters. One of these. Charlotte, married Mr. 
Lewis "Woodruff, of Elizabethtown ; and another, 
Mary, married Mr. Jacob Morrell, a resident in 
this place ; and here, about three years after her 
father's decease, she died, at the age of thirty- 
one. Her name, also, may be found on her father's 
monument. 

In the year 1765, about eleven years after Mr. 
Horton's settlement here, the congregation pur- 
chased a piece of property for a parsonage, and 
put it in a state of repair for their minister. This 
property was the one now owned and occupied by 
Dr. H. P. Green, in the vicinity of the Morris and 
Essex Railroad depot. It contained originally 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 27 

about fifty acres of land, with a house and barn, 
which stood on the same site which is now occu- 
pied by Dr. Grreen's improvements. The house was 
a large double one, shingled on all sides, with the 
front eaves high, while the back ones were so low 
that they could easily be reached from the ground. 
Here did Mr. Horton, the first pastor, reside for 
nearly fourteen years, until his dismission, about 
five months before his death ; and here did the 
succeeding pastors of the church continue to re- 
side until the year 1810 ; when the congregation 
sold the property, for reasons which will hereafter 
be stated ; having been in possession of it for a 
period of nearly fifty years. 

After Mr. Horton 's death, which occurred, as 
has been stated, just after the commencement of 
the Revolutionary War, the congregation engaged, 
for a short time, the services of the Rev. Aaron 
Richards. Mr. Richards was likewise a gradu- 
ate of Yale College ; he was licensed and ordained 
by the Presbytery of New York, and was for many 
years associated with his predecessor here, as a co- 
presbyter in that body. At the time of his 
preaching in this place, he was the regular pastor 
of the Presbyterian church at Rahway, in this 



28 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

State ; but on account of the dangers incident to 
a residence on the great thoroughfare between 
New York and Philadelphia, during the war, he 
deemed it prudent to bring his family here for 
a time ; and upon his arrival in this place the 
congregation decided to invite him to supply the 
pulpit until the way should be prepared for him 
to return to his own charge. In this capacity he 
served the society — residing in the old parsonage 
— for about one and a half years, until the early 
part of the year 1779, when he withdrew to labor 
again among his own people. 

During the winter of 1776-77, and the winter 
oi 1779-80, it will be remembered, that the 
American army established their winter quarters 
in the vicinity of this place and Morristown. 
Gen. "Washington had his head-quarters in the lat- 
ter place, in a dwelling which is still standing, 
and which is owned and occupied by Henry A. 
Ford, Esq. ; while a number of the leading officers 
of the army had quarters assigned them in this 
village. Col. Francis Barbour resided in a small 
house, which was standing, at that time, on the 
site now occupied by the dwelling of Mr. John B. 
Miller ; and for one year he rented and occupied 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 29 

the old parsonage. Col. Matthias Ogden was 
quartered with Major Luke Miller ; and while 
there, he rented a piece of property belonging to 
the congregation, in the vicinity of the residence 
of Deacon Jonathan Thompson, but now the home- 
stead of Mr. Lathrop. Major Eaton took up his 
abode with Mr. Jonathan Harris, in a dwelling 
which is still standing, next to the residence of 
the late Deacon Ephraim Sayre ; and Col. Marsh 
resided in an old house, which was at that time 
standing on the spot which has since been occu- 
pied by the dwelling of Mrs. Eliza Cook. A part 
of the army were at the same time encamped on 
the property formerly owned by Mr. Yincent Bois- 
aubin, but now owned and occupied by Mr. A. M. 
Treadwell; and while they were thus situated, it 
was very common for both officers and privates to 
attend divine worship in our old sanctuary. There 
are those still living among us who remember 
seeing companies of soldiers in uniform, accom- 
panied by their officers, entering that venerable 
edifice, and, taking their places in the southeast 
gallery, unite with our fathers in rendering adora- 
tion and thanksgiving to the Most High. The 
Rev. James Caldwell, the honored pastor of the 



30 PEESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

First Presbyterian church, in Elizabethtown, who 
was afterwards most brutally assassinated by the 
enemy, was acting as chaplain in the army, while 
they were quartered in this vicinity ; and he is 
known to have preached repeatedly in this place, 
both in the church and in the house* of his warm 
and intimate friend, Deacon Ephraim Sayre ; 
where he was a frequent and a most welcome 
visitor. 

During the same spring in which Mr. Richards 
left — the Revolution then being at its height — 
the church and congregation united in a call to the 
Rev. Ebenezer Bradford. This gentleman was a 
native of Canterbury, Ct. ; he graduated at the Col- 
lege of New Jersey in 1773 ; and he was licensed 
and ordained by the Presbytery of New York in 
the year 1775. On the 13th of June of the same 
year, he received ordination, and for three or four 
years, subsequently, preached in the churches of 
Chester and Succasunna ; until the early part of 
the year 1779, when he was invited to become the 
pastor of this church ; and while he was here offici- 

* That house is still occupied by Mrs. Richards and Miss Rachel 
Sayre, daughters of Deacon Ephraim Sayre, to whom the writer 
is indebted for important facts contained in this history. 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 31 

ating in that capacity, he married a daughter of 
the Rev. Jacob Grreen, of Hanover. During his 
residence in this place, he occupied the old par- 
sonage, and taught, at the same time, a very 
flourishing and somewhat famous classical acade-. 
my,* which stood on the very spot now occupied 
by our village depot. Most of the pupils in this 
institution were from other parts of the country ; 
and a considerable number pursued their studies 
here, preparatory to their entering college, who 
afterwards distinguished themselves in the Chris- 
tian ministry, or in the other learned professions. 
The Rev. Dr. Ashbel Grreen was one of the teach- 
ers in this institution. 

Mr. Bradford continued to perform the double 
duty of pastor and teacher in this place for a 
period of about three years, when he resigned his 
charge, and retired in the year 1782. While he 
was the pastor of this church he, with Rev. Jacob 
Grreen, of Hanover, Rev. Amzi Lewis, of Warwick, 

* That edifice was afterwards removed to Chatham village, 
during the Revolutionary War, where it was occupied for a consid- 
erable time by Mr. Shepard Kollock,the proprietor and editor of a 
paper published in Elizabethtown, for the issuing of that paper ; it 
being considered hazardous, as things then were, to perform the 
work in the village, where it properly belonged. 



32 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 



N. Y., Rev. Joseph G-rover, of Parsippany, and a 
few others, withdrew from the old Presbytery of 
New York with which this church was at that 
time connected, and formed what was called the 
" Presbytery of Morris County." 4 ' This ecclesias- 
tical body originated in a predilection entertained 
by the gentlemen above named, for the Congrega- 
tional method of church government ; and it is 
not unlikely that Mr. Bradford's tendency in that 
direction was a leading cause of his short con- 
tinuance here as the pastor of this church. 

Upon leaving here he went, in 1781, to Bethel, 
in the town of Danbury, Connecticut, where he 
labored for a few years, and then removed to 
Rowley, Massachusetts, where he continued to 

* u The Presbytery of Morris County" appears to have been 
formed in or about the year 1780. In the minutes of the Synod 
of New York and Philadelphia, for May, 1781, the Rev. Messrs. 
Jacob Green, Joseph Grover, Amzi Lewis, and Ebenezer Bradford, 
the originators of that body, are reported to have withdrawn from 
the Presbytery of New York during the year preceding. The 
movement never seems to have met with much favor at any 
period of its history ; and for many years the Presbytery has been 
entirely disbanded. The Morris County Education Society, which 
was formerly connected with that body, is still in existence, hav- 
ing its centre in Bloomfield, in Essex County, where it is furnish- 
ing means for the education of four or five young men per 
annum, for the Gospel ministry. The writer has been, for several 
years, one of the Board of Managers of that Society. 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 33 

preach until his death, which occurred in the 
year 1801. 

He was a very able preacher ; and it is said that 
under one of his sermons on 1 Tim. 2 : 5, his 
brother-in-law, the late Dr. Ashbel Green, of Phil- 
adelphia, was converted to GJ-od. Mr. Bradford 
left four sons, all of whom have distinguished 
themselves in their various professions ; Dr. John 
M. Bradford, of the Reformed Dutch Church, Al- 
bany ; Rev. James Bradford, of Sheffield, Massa- 
chusetts ; Hon. E. Gr. Bradford, President Judge 
of York and Lancaster, Pennsylvania ; and Moses 
Bradford, Esq., of Wilmington, Delaware. 

In the month of June of the following year — the 
war yet being in progress — the Rev. Alexander 
Miller was invited to become the pastor of this 
church. This gentleman was a native of Scot- 
land ; he graduated at the College of New Jersey 
in the year 1764 ; was licensed by the Presbytery 
of New York in 1768 ; was ordained by the same 
body, as an evangelist, on the 5th day of June, 
1770, and labored in this capacity for about two 
years in the village of Schenectady, N. Y. He 
was installed as the pastor of this Church on the 
2d day of July, 1783, and after having labored in 
2 



34: PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

this connection for a period of about four years, he 
was dismissed on the 19th of June, 1787. From 
the year 1785 to the year 1795 he officiated as a 
Trustee of the College of New Jersey. After re- 
signing his pastorate here, he removed to Hacken- 
sack, in this State, where he took the charge of an 
academy, and remained until the year 1796, when 
he removed to the county of Columbia, N. Y., and 
took the charge of a classical institution there. 
In this position he remained from the year 1809 
to the year 1819, a period of about ten years ; and 
while residing in that section of the country, he 
was a member of the Presbytery of Albany . # 

For nearly three years after this, the church 
seems to have been destitute of the services of a 
stated pastor, and were obliged to look to the 
" Presbytery of New York," with which they were 
connected, for occasional supplies. The Presby- 
tery at that time was composed of the follow- 
ing ministers, to wit : Rev. Drs. John Rogers, 
Timothy Jones, Hugh Knox, and Alexander 
McWhorter, and Rev. Messrs. Jedediah Chapman, 

* The author is indebted for several of the facts here stated, re- 
specting Messrs, Bradford and Miller, to the kindness of the Rev. 
Richard Webster, of Mauch Chunk, Pa. 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 35 

John McDonald, Aaron Richards, Jonathan Elmer, 
Abner Brush, Benjamin Woodruff, Azel Roe, 
Nathan Kerr, John Close, Alexander Miller, Wil- 
liam Wood hull, Jacob Van Arsdalen, William 
Schenck, John War ford, John Joline, Andrew 
King, and James GUassbrook ; and it is probable 
that a considerable number of these gentlemen, if 
not all of them, took their turns in supplying the 
pulpit here while it was vacant. The ordinances 
of the sanctuary, however, were regularly main- 
tained, and the church began to recover gradually 
from the disastrous effects of the war. The 
period of which we are now speaking is memor- 
able for one thing which will never cease to excite 
the regrets of this community ; and that is, the 
utter loss of all the records of the Session of this 
church, from the year 1790 back to the time of its 
organization — a period of nearly fifty-five years. 
All the transactions of that body during that 
time, together with the names of nearly all the 
members of the church previous to the year just 
mentioned, are irrecoverably gone ; and what is a 
little remarkable, on the minutes of the parish 
itself there is no record of any of its proceedings 
from the 11th of October, 1786, to the 29th of 



36 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

September, 1789 ; a deficiency which not only 
can never be explained, but which can by no 
means ever be supplied. 

In the early periods of the church's history, it 
may be interesting to know that there were no 
choirs appointed to conduct the singing of the 
sanctuary ; but that this part of divine service 
was attended to by the whole congregation ; one 
or more individuals being appointed annually at 
the parish meeting, to " pitch the tune," as it 
was termed, and lead them in this exercise. The 
leader's place was in the deacons' pew, immediately 
under the pulpit. When the psalm or hymn had 
been given out, the leader arose in the presence of 
the whole assembly, and started the tune, the 
congregation falling in with him in one general 
chorus. This practice was kept up in the church, 
it is believed, until about the year 1800, when 
that of singing in connection with a choir, was 
introduced. 

In reference to the versions of psalms and 
hymns which have been used here at different 
periods in the church's history, it may be well to 
state that for eight or nine years after the society 
was formed, as a means of uniting those whose 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 37 



views differed on this subject, the congregation 
used the old Scotch version by Rouse, as well as 
that which was prepared by Dr. Watts. At that 
time the churches generally through the country 
were very much divided in reference to this 
matter ; and in many instances it was deemed of 
sufficient importance to call for the counsel and 
ultimate adjudication of the Presbyteries and 
higher bodies of the church.^ At times, it greatly 
disturbed the peace of this congregation, until 
Watts' version was adopted by common consent, 
as already stated. This continued to be used in 
the church until the year 1804, when the version 
by Dr. Timothy D wight, President of Yale 
College, was introduced. This last continued in 
use here until the year 1814, when the congrega- 

* In 1763, the Synod of New York and Philadelphia decided one 
of these references in the following manner : " Inasmueh as Dr. 
Watts' imitation of David's Psalms was approved by many mem- 
bers of the Synod, although it has not been particularly examined 
by all, the Synod have no objection to its use until the matter of 
Psalmody be further considered and in 1765, they decided 
' ' that they look upon the inspired psalms in Scripture to be pro- 
per matter to be sung in divine worship, according to their original 
design, and the practice of the churches ; yet they will not forbid 
those to use the imitation of them, whose judgment and inclina- 
tion lead them to do so." — History of the Presbyterian Church, 
pp. 407, 408. 



38 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

tion once more agreed to adopt the old version by 
Dr. Watts ; which, in turn, was used by the con- 
gregation until the year 1833, when the " Chris- 
tian Psalmist," which we are now using, took its 
place. 

As a matter properly belonging to the annals 
of the church, it may be proper to state, that in 
providing for the support of their pastors, the 
congregation for many years, stipulated, in addi- 
tion to their regular salary, to furnish them with 
all their necessary fuel. In order to provide this, 
it was the practice of the parish to purchase wood 
lots, and to appoint one or more days in each 
year for the purpose of cutting and drawing the 
minister's wood. On such occasions, the great 
body of the congregation turned out with their axes 
and their teams ; a generous supper was provided 
by the ladies of the parish at the parsonage ; and 
the year's supply of fuel was in this way piled up 
in the minister's yard. It may serve to show us 
the difference between the past and the present in 
a single item, to state a well-authenticated fact, 
that during the pastorate of one who was here at 
the close of the last century, at one of these 
annual " frolics," ninety loads, or not far from 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 39 

seventy cords of wood, were deposited in the par- 
sonage yard ; and that before the expiration of 
the year the whole of it was consumed. This 
practice of wood-getting was followed by the con- 
gregation until about the year 1840, when it was 
abandoned ; having been in vogue in this parish 
for a period of nearly ninety years. 

On the 29th of September, 1789, the congrega- 
tion extended a call to the Rev. Asa Hillyer, to 
become their pastor ; and in the early part of the 
following year he was installed here to serve in 
that capacity, by the Presbytery of New York ; the 
Rev. Mr. Austin, of Elizabethtown, preaching the 
installation sermon. The following gentlemen at 
that time constituted the Session of this church, 
to wit.: Joseph Wood, Ephraim Sayre, Moses 
Allen, Jonathan Nicholas, Jacob Bonnel, Paul 
Day, Jonathan Thompson, Stephen Day, and Enos 
Ward. Mr. Hillyer was a native of New Eng- 
land ; he graduated at Yale College in the year 
1786 — three years previous to his being called to 
this place ; and he was licensed and ordained by 
the old Presbytery of Suffolk, Long Island, in the 
spring of 1788. When he came here, he- was yet 



40 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

a young man, and this was his first place of 
settlement. While he was the pastor of this 
church, his labors were very greatly blessed ; the 
number of church members was increased, and 
the congregation came to assume a high rank 
among the congregations of that day. This 
amiable and worthy divine occupied the pulpit 
here for a period of about twelve years ; when, in 
the summer of 1801, he was dismissed to become 
the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in 
Orange, in this State ; where he continued to 
labor until his death, which occurred in the year 
1840. The minute which the congregation have 
placed upon their records in reference to Mr. 
Hillyer's dismission, does honor both to themselves 
and to him ; and furnishes a beautiful exempli- 
fication of the spirit which ought to be exhibited 
both by pastors and people, when in the prov- 
idence of G-od they are called to separate. Mr. 
Hillyer was elected a trustee of the College of 
New Jersey in the year 1811 ; and this respon- 
sible and honorable office he continued to hold 
until the time of his death— a period of nearly 
thirty years. 



PKESBYTEKIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 41 

The pastorate of Dr. Hillyer^ is ever to be re- 
membered by this people as the period when the 
Tuesday evening prayer -meeting was established. 
It was commenced somewhere about the year 
1790, in the house of Deacon Ephraim Sayre, 
where it was kept up for a considerable time ; after 
which it was removed to the old school-house, now 
occupied by Chistian Wise, on the corner north- 
west of the present academy ; and afterwards, to 
the upper room of the present academy, where it 
was maintained for more than forty years, until 
the year 1851, when, upon the completion of the 
lecture-room, it was removed there. That prayer- 
meeting has been kept up now for nearly sixty-five 
years, and has proved an incalculable blessing, in 
every point of view, to this entire community. 

During the pastorate of Dr. Hillyer, also, and 
for many years subsequently, it ought to be known 
that Union-meetings were frequently held between 
this church and the churches of Morristown and 
Hanover. These meetings were usually held at 
private houses, either in Columbia, Monroe, or 

* He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity in the year 
1812. 



42 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

Whippany, on some afternoon in the week ; they 
were attended by the pastors of all these churches, 
who generally alternated in preaching ; and they 
were occasions of surpassing interest to the entire 
surrounding community. At these meetings, the 
Rev. Messrs. Jones, Richards, and Fisher, of 
Morristown ; the Rev. Messrs. Green and Condit, 
of Hanover ; and the Rev. Messrs. Bradford, 
Richards, Miller, Hillyer, Perrine, and Bergen, of 
this place, met in friendly concert, and strength- 
ened each others' hands by these seasons of united 
worship. The recollection of these scenes, now 
for ever past, is full of interest to many of Grod's 
people who are yet living. 

About six months after the dismission of Dr. 
Hillyer, on the 29th of December 1801, the con- 
gregation met, and, with the Rev. Dr. Richards of 
Morristown for their moderator, they united in a 
call to the Rev. Matthew La Rue Perrine, to as- 
sume the pastoral office among them. This call 
was promptly accepted, and he entered imme- 
diately upon his labors. 

Mr. Perrine was a native of Freehold, Mon- 
mouth county, N. J., the scene of one of the most 
sanguinary battles of the American Revolution. 



PKESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 43 

While he was yet quite young, he resided in the 
family of his uncle, Dr. Condit, at Newton, in this 
State, and while there he began his studies prepar- 
atory to entering college, and was hopefully con- 
verted to Grod. Upon his uncle's removal to New 
Brunswick, he accompanied him thither ; finished 
his preparatory studies, and entered the college of 
New Jersey, in the year 1794. After a three years' 
course, he graduated at that institution in the 
year 1797. His theological studies, it is believed, 
were pursued in private, under the direction of his 
pastor, the Rev. John Woodhull, D.D., of Freehold ; 
and he was licensed to preach the gospel by the 
Presbytery of New Brunswick, about the close of 
the last century. He was a young man when he 
came here, and this also was his first place of set- 
tlement. He was a very ripe scholar, a sound 
theologian, and an able preacher. He was justly 
distinguished for the soundness of his judgment, 
and his eminent piety ; and he was so characteris- 
tically amiable, that he was commonly called,, 
where he was known, " the beloved disciple." 

Under his ministry there were large accessions 
made to the church ; and the congregation grew 



44 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

to become one of the most respectable and able in 
this section of the country. 

It was during the period of his residence here, 
that the turnpike, which is now the main avenue 
through our village, was built ; and also that the 
township of Chatham was set off from the town- 
ships of Morris and Hanover. The first of these 
occurred in the year 1804, and the last in the 
year 1806. It was while he was here, also — to wit, 
in the year 1809 — that our present academy was 
erected. This edifice was built by a joint-stock 
company, by which it is still owned ; and at differ- 
ent periods it has contained schools of a very high 
order. 

In the year 1804, soon after his settlement here, 
the entire village of Madison consisted of, not to 
exceed, twenty dwelling-houses ; and all these 
were standing on the old road. One of these stood 
on the property formerly owned by Capt. Mallaby, 
opposite the toll-gate ; another, where Deacon 
Burroughs now lives ; another, where Mrs. Chjoe 
Samson resides; and another, at the foot of the hill 
southeast of the church. Then came the church, 
on the crown of the hill, and then, a small house on 
the property now owned by Mr. Henry Keep ; then 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 45 

came the parsonage, now occupied by Dr. G-reen ; 
then, a small house with a store attached, on the 
corner, until recently the residence of the late Mr. 
Benjamin Birdsall, but then occupied by Mr. Jon- 
athan Richards and Mr. Abraham Brittin ; then, 
on the opposite side of the street, a small house, 
where the residence of Mr. Charles Johnson now 
stands. Then came the public house, now occu- 
pied by Mr. Robert Albright ; then, a small house 
on the side hill, late the residence of Mrs. Eliza 
Cook ; then, on the site of the present parsonage, a 
house belonging to Mr. James Burnet ; then, on 
the corner diagonally opposite, a house belonging 
to Mr. Ellis Cook. Then came the house of Dea- 
con Ephraim Sayre, and next to him the residence 
of Mr. Jonathan Harris. Further on came the 
dwelling of Mr. Joseph Miller, now occupied by 
Mr. David L. Miller ; on the opposite side of the 
street, where Mr. John B. Miller now resides, was 
an old house which was occupied by Deacon Joseph 
Wood ; and a little beyond that was the residence 
of Major Luke Miller. The school-house^ stood 

* The first school-house erected in Madison was on the Birdsall 
corner. After that, one was built on the property afterwards 
occupied by the Rev. Mr. Arms. That building was moved to the 



46 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

on the corner now occupied by Christian Wise ; a 
blacksmith-shop stood on the site of the present 
academy ; and an old storehouse occupied the site 
of our present lecture-room. Such was the village 
of Madison soon after Mr. Perrine's settlement here, 
about fifty years ago. 

As has already been stated, Mr. Perrine's min- 
istry in this place was a very successful one. 
Under his supervision, the church grew very rap- 
idly, and large numbers were hopefully con- 
verted to God. While he was here, one very ex- 
tensive revival of religion was enjoyed in the con- 
gregation. It was preceded by prayer-meetings of 
a deeply solemn and interesting character ; and 
among these the most memorable are those which 
were held previous to the hour of divine worship, 
on Sabbath mornings, in the house opposite the 
toll-gate, formerly the property of Capt. Mallaby. 
Subsequently, u a four days meeting," as it was 
called, was appointed to be held in the church. 
On the day fixed for the services to begin, a great 
concourse of people assembled in and around the 

corner, now occupied by Christian "Wise, and is the building in 
which he now resides. From that, the school was taken to the 
academy in 1809. 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 47 

church from all parts of the surrounding country . # 
The church being found too small to accommodate 
the multitude assembled, arrangements were made 
for holding the services in the valley immediately 
in the rear of the church, and nearly in front of 
our present house of worship. A large farm -wag- 
on was placed by the brook, from which the min- 
isters were to address the people ; while the mul- 
titude ranged themselves on the slopes of the hills 
on either side, to receive the gospel message from 
their lips. The following ministers were present, 
and assisted the pastor, Mr. Perrine, in these ser- 
vices, to wit : Rev. Dr. Finley, of Baskingridge ; 
Rev. Amzi Armstrong, of Mendham ; Rev. Dr. 
Richards, of Morristown ; Rev. Dr. Hillyer, of 
Orange ; Rev. Barnabas King, then a young mis- 
sionary at Rockaway ; Rev. Aaron Condit, of Han- 
over ; Rev. Dr. M'Whorter, of Newark; Rev. Henry 
Kollock, of Elizabethtown ; Rev. Dr. Griffin, 
of Newark, and others. " There were giants in 
those days !" The services were kept up through 

* The number of horses and carriages in attendance was so 
great, that, as they were hitched to the fences on both sides of the 
road, they extended from the old parsonage to the church, and to 
an equal distance beyond it. 



48 PEESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

four entire days, morning and afternoon ; and in 
a few instances, there was preaching at the same 
hour both in the valley and in the church. The 
ministers present took their turns in conducting 
the services ; and the result was one of the most 
extensive revivals of religion that has ever been 
witnessed in this country. An eye-witness of the 
solemn scene, in a letter to the author, speaks of it 
in the following language: " It was in Madison 
that I witnessed the largest religious concourse 
that I ever witnessed anywhere. The ground 
north of the old church was admirably fitted for 
the occasion. It was a hollow, surrounded by 
rising grounds on all sides. In the bottom were 
placed wagons, from which the ministers held 
forth the word of life to the earnestly listening 
and solemn crowds, assembled from all parts of the 
country. The preaching was, for the most part, in 
the open - air ; but I remember that on one after- 
noon as many as could be accommodated, repaired 
to the church to hear Dr. M'Whorter, of Newark, 
while the balance remained in the hollow to hear 
preaching there. The ministers of the old Jersey 
Presbytery were accustomed, at that time, to hold 
monthly meetings in their respective parishes, for 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 49 

mutual improvement in matters pertaining to 
their high calling. Around these meetings there 
came by degrees to gather a great deal of interest; 
the people in all that region began to sympathize 
with their ministers, so that when the first week 
in July, the time fixed for the meeting at Madison, 
came, multitudes felt as if they must be there. 
Notice was given of it for several weeks previously, 
in the neighboring churches ; and I remember that 
Mr. Armstrong, our pastor at Mendham, stated on 
the Sabbath before, from his pulpit, that he in- 
tended to be there, and that he hoped many of his 
people would make their arrangements to go also. 
I look back to that time with admiration and 
wonder, at the manifestations of divine power 
which were seen and felt at that time through all 
that region. Many thousands, I believe, were con- 
verted to Grod, a large number of whom have 
already gone home to glory ; and it is interest- 
ing, at least to myself to know that my own relig- 
ious seriousness began about that time."* 

As the result of that work of grace, a very great 
number of hopeful converts connected themselves 



* Rev. Jacob Tuttle, of Jersey, Ohio — father of the author. 
3 



50 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

with neighboring churches ; and nearly ninety 
were received into fellowship with this church, 
upon profession of their faith in Christ ; and the 
cause of religion received an impulse in this 
whole surrounding region, which it is believed it 
never has lost until this day. The time when 
these remarkable services were held was in the 
month of July, 1806. 

The number of church members here when Mr. 
Perrine was first settled over this church, was not 
far from one hundred. In the year J 808, that 
number was increased to but little short of two 
hundred ; and when he resigned his charge here, 
the number was two hundred and nine. This, it 
will be remembered, was when this church was 
still the only one within the limits of this town- 
ship. 

Mr. Perrine's pastoral connection with this 
church and congregation continued about nine and 
a half years, until the August of 1811 ; when he 
was dismissed at his own request, to take charge 
of the Spring Street Presbyterian Church in New 
York city. Previous to his entering upon his la- 
bors in this new sphere, the congregation extend- 
ed to him a very pressing invitation to return and 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 51 

resume his pastorate in this place. This second 
call was attended with many circumstances which 
were honorable both to them and to him ; but, not 
seeing his way clear to accept, he declined the in- 
vitation, and entered upon his ministry in New 
York. In this new position, he continued for about 
ten years, until the year 1821, when he was called 
to a professorship in the Theological Seminary at 
Auburn, New York ; where, after a period of about 
fifteen years of distinguished usefulness in train- 
ing up young men for the gospel ministry, he de- 
parted this life on the 11th of February, 1836, 
sincerely beloved and lamented by all who knew 
him. Mr. Perrine never had any children of his 
own ; but he adopted and educated some six or 
eight of his nephews and other relatives, some of 
whom have already brought distinction both upon 
themselves and upon him. Among these is the 
Rev. Matthew La Rue Perrine Thompson, D.D., 
formerly of Philadelphia, but now of Buffalo, New 
York. 

At the commencement of Mr. Perrine 's ministry 
in Madison, he resided in the old parsonage, of 
which we have already spoken ; but having subse- 
quently erected a dwelling for himself — the one 



52 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

now occupied by Mr. Beaupland — he made this his 
residence until his removal to New York ; and it 
was while he was occupying his own house, that 
the congregation disposed of their parsonage ; the 
amount for which it was sold being $2,350. This 
occurred in the year 1810 ; and from that time 
until the spring of 1854 — a period of about forty- 
four years — the parish was destitute of a parsonage 
for the accommodation of their minister. 

About the commencement of the last war with 
Great Britain, to wit, on the 19th of October, 
1812, the church and congregation united in a call 
to the Bev. John Gr. Bergen, to become their pas- 
tor. This call he accepted, and entered immedi- 
ately upon his labors. Mr. Bergen graduated at 
the College of New Jersey, in the year 1808 ; and 
he served as a tutor in that Institution from 1810 
to 1812, a period of about two years. He was 
ordained and installed by the Presbytery of Jersey, 
with which this church was at that time con- 
nected ; and from the tutorship in Princeton he 
came directly here to assume, for the first time, the 
responsibilities of a pastor. He purchased the res- 
idence of his predecessor, the Bev. Mr. Perrine ; 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 53 

and there he continued to reside during his entire 
ministry in this place. 

At the time of his settlement here, the eldership 
of the church consisted of the following gentle- 
men, to wit : Messrs. Ephraim Sayre, Enos Ward, 
Israel Lum, Benjamin Thompson, Samuel Much- 
more, Jacob Bonnel, William Thompson, Aaron 
Burnet, Jonathan Thompson, and Stephen Day. 
Soon after Mr. Bergen came to this place, the con- 
gregation purchased a valuable lot of wood-land in 
the a Great Swamp" in the vicinity of Green Til- 
lage, for the use of the minister. This property 
contained about twenty acres, and cost the society 
the sum of $444 37. About seven years subse- 
quently, the wood having been taken from it, the 
society again disposed of- it. 

Five years after this, to wit, in the year 1817, 
the name of the congregation was changed by an 
act of the Legislature, from "The Presbyterian 
Church of South Hanover," which it had borne for 
about seventy years, to "The First Presbyterian 
Church of the township of Chatham," by which it 
continued to be designated for nearly thirty years 
following, until January, 1846, when it was again 



54 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

changed by the Legislature, to " The Presbyterian 
Church of Madison," which name it still bears. 

In the early periods of the church's history, the 
religious education of the rising generation was 
chiefly of a domestic character. It was quite com- 
mon for the pastors of the churches to visit the 
schools in their respective neighborhoods, and to 
catechize the children as frequently as practicable. 
Parents, however, took the principal direction of this 
important matter. The Shorter Catechism, com- 
piled by the Westminster Assembly, was placed 
in the hands of the children, and on each returning 
Sabbath, a season was set apart for the recitation 
of that invaluable formulary of Christian doctrine. 
The Scriptures were likewise read, and devotional 
hymns sung ; and in this way the young were at 
that time trained up a in the nurture and admoni- 
tion of the Lord." And this continued to be the 
case within the limits of this congregation until 
the year 1817, when the first Sabbath-school was 
instituted in this place. The leading agent in the 
formation of the Sabbath-school was Mr. William 
Thompson, at that time an elder in this church, 
but now a resident in the village of Jersey, Ohio. 
This gentleman had become deeply interested in 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 55 

Sabbath-schools from the perusal of a tract on 
that subject ; and in order to awaken a similar 
interest in the minds of others, he read the tract 
in the prayer-meeting which was at that time held 
on Sabbath afternoon, in the upper room of the 
Academy. This had the desired effect. The sub- 
ject was talked about for a week or two, when 
Mr. Thompson said to some of his friends, that if 
they would unite with him, they would at once 
make the effort to establish a Sabbath-school here. 
Persons were not wanting, to embark with him 
upon this new method of instructing the young ; 
and, as a consequence, the work was immediately 
begun. Mr. Thompson was appointed the first 
superintendent ; and the first teachers were Amelia 
Bruen, Julia Thompson, Lucinda Bruen, Lillys 
Cook, Priscilla Sayre, and Nancy Cook. 

At first this School was kept open only during 
the summer months ; simply for the reason that it 
was supposed to be a thing utterly impracticable 
to maintain it during the winter. In the year 
1834, however, the experiment was tried of keep- 
ing it up during the winter ; and from that time 
to the present it has been maintained through the 
entire year. The school was kept for nearly 



56 ' PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

eighteen years in the upper room of the academy, 
where it was first opened ; and at one time, over a 
hundred scholars regularly met for religious in- 
struction in that place ; and it was not until about 
the year 1840, that it was removed to the gallery 
of the church, where it has since been kept. 

This interesting institution has been maintained 
with commendable fidelity, and with various suc- 
cess, until the present time ; and it has unques- 
tionably proved an incalculable blessing to this 
church, as well as to this entire community. The 
great majority of those who have been members of 
the school have been hopefully converted to Grod, 
and an influence has in this way been set on foot, 
the full extent of which can never be . realized 
until the revelations of the judgment-day. 

The December of 1819 is memorable in the an- 
nals of this congregation as the time when, by a 
formal and well-considered vote of the parish, 
the first stove was introduced into our sanctuary. 
The committee appointed to look after this matter 
consisted of Messrs. Nathaniel Roberts, Charles 
Carter, Jacob Bonnel, and Benjamin Thompson. 
For nearly seventy years previous to this time, 
our ancestors worshipped without seeming to have 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 57 

had the most remote conception of so obvious a 
source of comfort in the house of God. They rode, 
in many instances for several miles, to the sanc- 
tuary ; attended two services, with an intermission 
of an hour between them, and rode to their homes 
again, without even "the smell of fire having 
passed upon them !" 

During the ministry of Mr. Bergen here, there 
were very considerable accessions made to the 
church ; and the congregation became so large 
that soon after he commenced his labors here, the 
erection of a new and more spacious house of wor- 
ship began to be seriously talked about. Four 
revivals of religion, of greater or less extent, were 
enjoyed ; and in the year 1822 especially, one 
was witnessed which will ever be held in grateful 
remembrance by this people. As the result of this 
work of grace, not far from ninety persons con- 
nected themselves with this church, upon a profes- 
sion of their faith in Christ. At the close of the 
year just mentioned, the church enrolled more 
members than it ever had done before, or ever has 
done since. The whole number at that time in 
full communion was three hundred and fifty. 

The matter of enlarging the old house of wor- 

3* 



58 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

ship, or of erecting a new one, had been seriously 
talked about by the congregation as early as the 
year 1808, when a committee of fifteen was ap- 
pointed to examine the old church and report 
" what repairs were necessary, and whether a new 
church was needed, and if so, where it should be 
located." The subject continued to be matter of 
conversation and discussion at the parish meetings 
and in private circles, from year to year, until the 
year 1822, when it was at length brought to an 
issue. A new church was determined upon, 
chiefly for the reason that the old one was too 
small to accommodate the congregation ; and on 
the 4th of February, 1823, matters had progressed 
so far, that the parish was called together to de- 
liberate and agree upon a site for it. It will be 
borne in mind that this was still the only parish 
within the limits of this township ; and when the 
question as to the location of the new edifice came 
up, there was naturally not a little difference of 
judgment among the people. Those who resided 
in and about Chatham village, wanted it located 
on the point of the hill opposite the residence of 
Mr. Alexander Bruen ; whereas those who resided 
in this village, as well as those who lived west and 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 59 

south of the old meeting-house, greatly preferred 
that it should be located somewhere in the vicinity 
of our present lecture-room. The territory em- 
braced in the congregation was surveyed, and its 
geographical centre was found to be only a few 
rods from the spot where the lecture-room now 
stands. This, however, did not change the deter- 
minations of the south-eastern section of the con- 
gregation. It was then proposed that the Hon. 
Theodore Frelinghuysen, and the Hon. Joseph C. 
Hornblower, of Newark, be authorized to appoint 
at their discretion, five individuals u whose business 
it should be to visit the parish, inspect its bound- 
aries, view the different sites named, take into view 
all previous proceedings had in relation to the 
building of a new church, and fix upon that site 
which, in their opinion, should appear to be most 
eligible c ' and their decision" it was recom- 
mended, " should conclude the whole matter, and 
receive the concurrence of all parties." This pro- 
posal, however, was not accepted ; and at length, 
so strenuous were our friends in Chatham, in their 
opposition to the site fixed upon by this portion 
of the parish, that the latter agreed to compromise 



60 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

the matter, and locate the new edifice where we 
are now assembled. 

This decision was arrived at on the 4th day of 
February, 1823. A very large number of the 
active members of the parish convened in the old 
meeting-house on that day ; the trustees and 
others having this matter in charge, reported that 
they had agreed to recommend the site above 
referred to, which was described as " the ground 
lying between the houses of Alexander M. Miller 
and Daniel Burnet the subject was discussed at 
great length, both parties having ample oppor- 
tunity afforded them for the expression of their 
views ; and upon the vote being taken, it was 
found that a very large majority were in favor of 
the place where the church now stands. Against 
this decision a protest was presented, signed by 
upwards of forty individuals residing in the 
vicinity of Chatham village ; and this, the con- 
gregation consented to have recorded upon their 
book of minutes. Notwithstanding all that had 
occurred, it was hoped, not without reason, that 
the parties would yet be brought to harmonize, 
with cordiality, in this decision. The reverse, 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 61 

however, was the fact. It soon became apparent 
that the attempted compromise had effected 
nothing. On the 20th of October, 1823, the 
Chatham branch of the congregation withdrew, 
and organized a new church in that village, 
placing themselves under the care of the Presby- 
tery of Jersey. This was the origin of the Pres- 
byterian church in Chatham Village, of which 
the Rev. Asa Lyman was, for about four years, 
the stated supply ; and of which the Rev. Joseph 
M. Ogden has been the pastor since the 23d of 
June, 1828, — a period of about twenty-six and a 
half years ; and this, too, is the reason why the 
sanctuary in which we are now assembled was 
located, as it is, so far from the centre of our own 
village. Its location here is a substantial and 
impressive evidence of the readiness of this people, 
to yield up the convictions of their judgment, as 
well as their decided preferences, for the sake of 
peace. Long may this continue to be the real 
character of this people ! 

Having thus decided upon a site, the congrega- 
tion now resolved to proceed at once to the erec- 
tion of the new church. Messrs. "William Brittin, 
Ichabod Bruen, Lewis Carter, and William 



62 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

Thompson, were appointed a committee to visit 
churches in the vicinity, and to decide upon a 
plan. This preliminary work having been per- 
formed, the Society appointed a building com- 
mittee, with instructions to proceed, with all 
proper despatch, to the execution of the work. 
That committee consisted of the following indi- 
viduals, to wit : "William Brittin, John Sturges, 
Archibald Sayre, Luke Miller, Lewis Carter, 
John Roberts, and Ichabod Bruen, who were 
authorized to fill any vacancies which might occur 
in their number, and to superintend the work 
until its completion. This committee subsequent- 
ly appointed William Brittin and William Thomp- 
son, who were at that time members of the 
board of trustees, a sub-committee to take the 
special oversight of the work as it advanced, to 
provide the materials, and to employ and pay the 
workmen. The master carpenters selected were 
Messrs. Ichabod Bruen and Lewis Carter ; and 
the head mason appointed was John Sturges, of 
Green Village. In the spring of 1824, the foun- 
dation was laid ; and in the spring of 1825, just 
one year after, the house was completed, and the 
keys handed over to the president of the Board of 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 63 

Trustees. The bell, whose sweet tones have so 
often summoned the people of Grod to the house of 
prayer, weighs about seven hundred pounds ; 
was purchased of Mr. Ephraim Force, of New 
York, at a cost of about six hundred and forty- 
five dollars ; and was lifted to its place early in 
April of the year just mentioned ; and now, the 
church and congregation are ready to dedicate this 
new edifice to the worship of God. 

Many were the prayers, which were put up by 
devout hearts in all this region, while the work 
was in progress. Many were the efforts which 
were put forth, and many the anxieties experi- 
enced, before the work was completed. Many were 
the tears of joy that were shed, when, at length, 
the last stone was lifted to its place, amidst shout- 
ings of " grace, grace unto it !" And now let us 
look in upon the congregation, as they have con- 
vened to engage in the dedication services. It 
was on the 18th day of May, 1825. Sad memo- 
ries crowded upon their minds, as they left the 
sanctuary in which their fathers had worshipped 
for so many years before ; and happy thoughts, at 
the same time, possessed them, as they went up, 
for the first time, to offer their worship in this 



64 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

new house of prayer. A great company of per- 
sons, of all ages and conditions, were seen wending 
their way to this new 4 4 hill of Zion " on that 
glad and beautiful spring morning. The house 
was crowded to its utmost capacity, both above 
and below. A common impulse had brought the 
multitude together, and common sentiments of 
thanksgiving and praise arose in every heart. 
Here and there sat the fathers and pillars of the 
church, with gratitude and joy engraven on every 
lineament of their countenances. Scattered about 
in the assembly, too, were those who had borne 
the chief responsibility in the erection of the new 
edifice ; and they, too, were happy on that day. 
There, too, were the young, with bounding hearts 
and glad faces, unfurrowed as yet by care, and 
unused as yet to the .disappointments and trials 
of life. At the head of the choir sat their leader, 
Lewis Carter, and around him were gathered a 
group of singers, chiefly in the morning of life, 
awaiting the signal of their conductor, to give 
utterance to the joy that glowed in their hearts. 
Common sympathies and common emotions per- 
vaded the whole assembly. 

And now the hour of service has arrived. The 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

pastor, Rev. Mr. Bergen, introduced the solemni- 
ties of the occasion. The blessing of Grod was 
invoked upon entering into this new and beauti- 
ful sanctuary. They united in singing a song of 
thanksgiving. Prayer then was offered, in which 
the edifice, with all that appertained to it, was 
solemnly set apart to the worship of Almighty 
Grod. A portion of Scripture appropriate to the 
occasion was read. Again they united in the 
song of gratitude and praise. The pastor then 
preached a discourse, full of good sense and piety, 
on the words, " Enter into his courts with thanks- 
giving, and into his gates with praise." Prayer 
was again offered ; and again was the new edifice 
consecrated to Grod. Again they sang in joyful 
concert : 

" Far as thy name is known, 

The world declares thy praise ; 
Thy saints, O Lord, before thy throne, 

Their songs of honor raise. 
Let strangers walk around 

The city where we dwell, 
Compass and view the holy ground, 

And mark the building well," &c* 

Then the benediction was pronounced, and the 



* Psalm 48, second part, S. M. 



66 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

assembly retired to their homes, amidst mutual 
congratulations and thanksgivings, to bless Grod for 
what their eyes had seen, and their ears had heard, 
on that day. 




The dimensions of the church are fifty-five feet 
by seventy-five. It is constructed of brick, its 
side walls being twenty-four, and its end walls 
twenty inches, thick. It has a gallery extending 
around three sides ; is neatly carpeted and other- 
wise furnished ; contains an excellent organ, and 
all the other arrangements of a well-appointed 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 67 

sanctuary, and is capable of seating comfortably 
about nine hundred persons. 

Such was the origin of the substantial and 
beautiful sanctuary in which we are stated wor- 
shippers. It has now been standing nearly thirty 
years ; and it has already been a witness of several 
precious revivals — of many most delightful com- 
munion seasons ; and to a great multitude, both 
here and elsewhere, it is the centre of many of the 
most tender and delightful associations. It stands 
to-day a monument of the perseverance and self- 
sacrificing zeal of our fathers, as well as of their 
good taste and their piety ; and here may it 'stand 
long to be a source of the choicest blessings to 
this entire community, both in this world and in 
that which is to come. 

Mr. Bergen continued to officiate as the pastor 
of this church for about three years after the new 
sanctuary was opened for divine worship, and he 
appears to have been a very successful and useful 
pastor here, until the August of 1828, when, at 
his own request, he was dismissed ; having been 
in this relation for a period of nearly sixteen years. 
From this place he soon after removed to the 



68 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

West, where he is still living, in the vicinity of 
Springfield, Illinois. 

After Mr. Bergen had retired , the congregation 
appear to have been without the services of a 
regular pastor for nearly two years. During this 
time the Rev. Daniel Beers was called here by a 
vote of fifty-two to forty-two ; and after preaching 
about six months, and finding but little prospect 
of a harmonious settlement here, he was never 
installed. 

For a considerable time after this, the congre- 
gation were unable to agree upon any one whom 
they Should call to become their pastor, until the 
month of October, 1830, when they extended a 
call to the Rev. Alexander Gr. Frazer. This 
call he accepted, and entered at once upon his 
labors, his place of residence, while here, being 
the house since occupied by Mr. Sherrill, near 
the railroad bridge. Mr. Frazer was a native of 
Scotland, and received his education in that 
country. Previous to his coming to this place, he 
labored for several years as the pastor of the Pres- 
byterian church in Westfield, in this State, where 
his efforts to build up the Redeemer's kingdom 
appear to have been considerably blessed. He 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 69 

continued the pastor of this church for about one 
and a half years, until February, 1832, when he 
resigned his charge and withdrew. 

It was about this time that our village received 
its present appropriate and beautiful name. Being 
dissatisfied with the name of " Bottle Hill" which 
it had borne for more than a hundred years previ- 
ously, and having become earnest and active 
friends of the temperance reformation, the inhab- 
itants of the village met together, and unani- 
mously resolved to drop this odious appellation, 
and substitute for it the name of Madison. This 
was the name that had been given to the academy 
more than twenty years before ; and, as it will 
readily suggest itself to all, it was given both to 
that edifice, and subsequently to the village, in 
honor of the fourth President of the United 
States. 

The pulpit was vacant for about nine months 
after Mr. Frazer's dismission, until the autumn 
of 1832, when the church and congregation in- 
vited the Rev. Clifford S. Arms to become their 
pastor. Mr. Arms was born in Sunderland, Mass., 
on the banks of the Connecticut river, on the 
4th of June, 1796. The principal portion of 



70 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

his early life was spent in Canaan, Columbia 
county, New York ; and there it was that in the 
year 1817, at the age of twenty-one, he was hope- 
fully converted to Grod, and made a public profes- 
sion of religion. His preparatory studies were 
pursued under the care of Mr. Moses Hallock, 
father of the Rev. William A. Hallock, of the 
American Tract Society. In the fall of 1820 he 
became a member of the Freshman class in Wil- 
liam's College, where he remained but one year. 
He then entered Union College at Schenectady, 
New York, where, after three years' study, he grad- 
uated in the year 1824. In the autumn of the 
same year, he entered the Theological Seminary 
at Princeton in this State, and after a three years' 
course, graduated in the month of September, 
1827. 

He was licensed to preach the GospeJ one year 
previous to his leaving the seminary ; and when 
he had completed his studies in that institution, 
he labored four or five months as a missionary in 
<( The Pines" of this State, under the Ladies' 
Missionary Society of Princeton. In the fall of 
1827, he assumed the charge of a small church in 
Middletown Point, Monmouth county, N. J., and 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 71 

while he was there, he received ordination as an 
evangelist, from the same Presbytery that gave 
him license. The relation which he sustained to 
that church was that of stated supply ; and while 
connected in this way with the church, his labors 
appear to have been signally blessed to its enlarge- 
ment and permanent establishment. 

After laboring in that field for a period of about 
five years, he received a call to become the pastor 
of this church at the time above stated ; and in 
the month of October of that year (1832) he re- 
moved his family to this place, and was regularly 
inducted into the pastoral office here, by the Pres- 
bytery of Elizabethtown, the Rev. David Magie, 
X). D., and others, taking part in the services. 

While here, he resided for a short time in the 
house of the widow Cook, opposite the academy ; 
then in the house now occupied by Mr. Henry 
Keep ; and then in a house belonging to the family 
of the late Archibald Say re, in the vicinity of the 
Catholic church. This last was his principal 
residence while the pastor of this church. 

The Session of the church at that time was 
composed of Messrs. William Crowell, Ichabod 
Bruen, Lewis Thompson, Charles Carter, and Zo- 



72 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

pliar Freeman ; and during his ministry here, 
Messrs. Ira Burnet, Ashbel Carter, and William 
P. Conklin were added to that body. 

It was during Mr. Arms' pastorate here, that 
the Morris and Essex Railroad was constructed 
through this village. The right of way along the 
southern border of the burying-ground, and imme- 
diately in front of the site of the old meeting- 
house, was granted to the company by the congre- 
gation in the month of January, 1836 ; and the 
road was completed, and cars were passed over it 
for the first time, as far as this place, in the month 
of October of the year following. The occasion of 
its completion was one of great interest to this 
community : and its construction has proved, in 
every point of view, an incalculable benefit to this 
entire surrounding region. 

In the year 1838, all access to the burying- 
ground having been cut off by the building of the 
railroad, as just stated, the present road to it was 
opened from the turnpike ; the land for this object 
having been obtained of Mr. Henry Keep. 

In the course of the same year, the Roman 
Catholic church in this place was erected. This 
was done by the descendants of a wealthy French 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 73 

gentleman, who emigrated to this place from the 
Island of Gruadaloupe in the latter part of the 
last century. This gentleman, whose name was 
Mr. Vincent Boisaubin, resided on the property 
now occupied by Mr. A. M. Treadwell, and was 
very highly esteemed and respected by this entire 
community. For many years previous to the 
erection of the Catholic church here, both he and 
his family owned seats and were frequent wor- 
shippers in our own sanctuary ; and for this rea- 
son, these facts have been regarded as proper mat- 
ters to be recorded in the Annals of this society. 

In the year 1842, a number of gentlemen be- 
longing to the parish, united together and pur- 
chased the organ that is now standing in our sanc- 
tuary. This instrument was constructed by 
Messrs. Charles and Davis Marsh, of Union Hill in 
this township ; and cost the sum of four hundred 
dollars. 

On the 17th of October 1843, this church and 
congregation were transferred from the "Presby- 
tery of Elizabethtown" — with which body they 
had previously been connected from the time of its 
formation — to the " Presbytery of Newark," with 
which they are connected at the present time. 
4 



74 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

As it respects the ecclesiastical connections 
which this church has sustained from the period 
of its organization, it may be interesting at this 
point to state, that its first connection was with 
the old Presbytery of New York. That body, at 
or about the time of the formation of this church, 
was composed of the following ministers, to wit : 
the Rev. Messrs. Azariah Horton (pastor of this 
church), John Pierson, Ebenezer Pemberton, Simon 
Horton, Aaron Burr, James Davenport, David 
Bostwick, Jacob G-reen, Caleb Smith, John 
Brainerd, Elihu Spencer, Daniel Thane, Enos 
Ayres, John MofTet, Chauncy Grraham, Timothy 
Syms, John Grant, Timothy Jones, Aaron 
Richards (afterwards stated supply in this place), 
Alexander Cummins, and Jonathan Elmore. 

In this connection the church was associated 
first with the " Synod of Philadelphia," then with 
the " Synod of New York," until the year 1758, 
when these two Synods having become united 
under the name of the 1 ' Synod of New York and 
Philadelphia," it became connected with that 
body, which at that time embraced all the Pres- 
byterian churches and ministers in this country. 
In the year 1780, a few clergymen in this vicinity, 



PKESBYTERIAN CHUECH, MADISON. 75 



having a strong predilection for the Congregational 
method of church government, withdrew from the 
Presbytery of New York, and formed a new Pres- 
bytery jjwhich was called the " Morris County Pres- 
bytery." The father and founder of this body 
was the Rev. Jacob Grreen, of Hanover ; and asso- 
ciated with him were the Rev. Amzi Lewis, of 
"Warwick, N. Y. ; the Rev. Joseph Grrover, of Par- 
sippany ; the Rev. Ebenezer Bradford, of this 
place, and others. 

Mr. Bradford, who was then the pastor of this 
church, it is believed, made a strong effort to carry 
the church over with him to that body ; and the 
influence of several neighboring pastors, as well as 
the example of several churches in the vicinity, 
tended very strongly in that direction. But, not- 
withstanding all this, the church adhered to its 
original connection with the Presbytery of New 
York, until the formation of the old Presbytery of 
Jersey, # which occurred on the fourteenth of No- 

* The Presbytery of Jersey, which was set off from the old Pres- 
bytery of New York on the 14th of November 1809, comprised all 
the ministers and churches in this State, which were formerly con- 
nected with the latter body, as well as those in the city of New 
York and on the east bank of the Hudson river generally ; and its 
first regular meeting was held at Morristown, on the 24th of April, 



76 PRESBYTERIAN" CHURCH, MADISON. 



vember, 1809, when it was regularly set off by the 
Synod with that body. In this new connection it 
then stood, until the Presbytery of Jersey was di- 
vided into the Presbyteries of Newark and Eliza- 
bethtown,^ which occurred in the autumn of 1824, 
when it was regularly set off with the body last 
named ; and with that it continued to be ecclesias- 
tically connected until the 17th of October, 1843, 
as has already been stated, when it withdrew and 
united itself with the Presbytery of Newark, with 
which body it now stands. The reason of this 
movement, it may be proper to state, was not that 
the church had experienced any change in relation 
to their doctrinal views, or their views respecting 

1810 ; the Rev. Asa Hilly er, D.D., of Orange, being its first 
moderator. 

* " In the autumn of 1824, the Presbytery of Jersey, which had 
existed under that name fifteen years, was divided by the Synod 
of New Jersey, at its own request, into two Presbyteries — the Pres- 
bytery of Newark and the Presbytery of Elizabethtown, of which 
the former held its first meeting at Jersey City, November 2, 1824. 
The property belonging to the old Presbytery, consisting of books, 
money for purposes of education, &c, was equally divided by a 
committee, appointed for that purpose. The last two volumes of 
the records were assigned to the Presbytery of Elizabethtown, and 
the preceding volumes, including, besides those of the old Presby- 
tery of New York, the first three years of the Presbytery of Jer- 
sey, and running back to the year 1775, to that of Newark." — Dr. 
Steam's First Church, Newark, p. 299. 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 77 

church polity ; but simply and solely, because its 
pastor and some of its leading members sympa- 
thized with that part of the Presbyterian church 
which they believed to have been aggrieved and 
injured in the great schism which occurred in 
that body in the year 1838. And it is worthy of 
notice, and not a little singular, that in leaving 
the Presbytery of Eliza bethtown for that of New- 
ark, this church has, in point of fact, simply gone 
from one branch of the old Presbytery of Jersey, 
to the other ; and that, thus, the time-honored 
succession in which it has stood from the first, is 
still unbroken. To the members of the church 
and congregation it must consequently be matter 
of great satisfaction, to be assured, that from its 
very origin to the present time, it has been truly 
and thoroughly Presbyterian, in all its affinities 
and connections. It is not improbable that the 
attachment of its early members to Presbyterian- 
ism had not a little to do with their withdrawal 
from the old church at Whippany, then under the 
pastoral care of the Rev. Jacob Grreen, and their 
organizing a new church in this place ; nor is it 
without reason that the opinion is harbored, that 
this same love of the principles and polity of the 



78 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

Presbyterian church was the real secret of Mr. 
Bradford's short ministry here. 

The year 1844 is worthy of a place in this his- 
torical sketch, as the year when the Methodist 
Episcopal Church in this village was erected, and 
consecrated to the worship of God. Persons of this 
persuasion had for a few years previously kept up 
occasional religious services in the upper room of 
the academy, at East Madison, or, as it was for- 
merly called, " Genung Town." Subsequently, 
they met in a large room connected with the 
umbrella manufactory of Mr. Henry Keep, in this 
village, until the year above mentioned, when 
they erected the neat and commodious edifice in 
which they now statedly worship. The congrega- 
tion at that time belonged to the same circuit as 
those of Whippany, Chatham, and Green Village ; 
and the ministers in charge were the Rev. Messrs. 
Lewis R. Dunn and Israel S. Corbit. The con- 
gregation is now associated with the church in 
Whippany alone ; and the Rev. Joseph Gaskill is 
the minister in charge. 

In the year 1845, the burying-ground was con- 
siderably enlarged by the purchase of some ad- 
joining land belonging to the Rev. Mr. Sewall, 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 79 

for which the parish paid one hundred dollars ; 
and in the year 1846, the name of the congrega- 
tion was changed to the " First Presbyterian 
Church of Madison," which it now bears. 

When Mr. Arms began his labors here, the 
number of church members was one hundred and 
fifty. His efforts to build up the Redeemer's 
kingdom, while the pastor of the church, were 
very abundantly and signally blessed. Three or 
four revivals of religion were enjoyed under his 
ministry ; and one very extensive and powerful 
one marked the commencement of his labors in 
this place. In the multiplied labors connected 
with this work of grace, he was assisted by the 
Rev. Messrs. Peter and Greorge Kanouse, as well 
as others/ whose happy influence here will never 
cease to be acknowledged and felt in this com- 
munity. Large numbers were received into the 
fellowship of the church, as the result of these 
special efforts, among whom were many heads of 
families ; and the congregation enjoyed a remark- 
able degree of prosperity. While he was the pastor 
of this church, there were nearly three hundred 
persons added to its membership, either by certifi- 
cate, or upon profession of their faith in Christ. 



| 



80 PEESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

The Rev. Nathaniel E. Pierson, of Westtown, 
New York, and the Rev. Charles H. Force, of 
Unadilla, in the same State, are in the number of 
the hopeful converts under his ministry. 

In the early part of the year 1846, the congre- 
gation came into possession of the " Church 
Library " which now stands in the pastor's study 
at the parsonage. This library contains one 
hundred and sixty-seven volumes of the best 
works which have been issued by the " Presby- 
terian Board of Publication ;" and for it, the con- 
gregation are indebted to the generosity of Mr. 
David Sayre, of Lexington, Kentucky, a son of 
Mr. Ephraim Sayre, who for many years was a 
deacon and an elder in this church. 

For a great many years the evening meetings 
in this village were held in the upper room of the 
academy. This was a very inconvenient and 
uncomfortable place for divine worship, and, as a 
consequence, the project of erecting a lecture- 
room for this purpose, was often the subject of 
conversation. At length, in the fall of 1849, a 
lot was purchased of Mrs. Mahlon Pierson, on the 
point formerly occupied by the store of Mr. 
Obadiah Crane ; and measures were at once 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 81 

adopted to erect the new edifice. The following 
gentlemen were appointed the building commit- 
tee, to wit : Messrs. Benjamin Birdsall, Greorge 
T. Sayre, and Ashbel Bruen. The latter, how- 
ever, soon resigned, and the superintendence of 
the work devolved, as a consequence, upon the 
other two gentlemen who have been named. 
To the persevering efforts of Mr. Birdsall, more, 
perhaps, than those of any other person, is the 
congregation indebted for this neat and com- 
modious edifice. The building was erected dur- 




THE LECTURE-ROOM. 



ing the year 1850, and was dedicated by the 
pastor, Rev. Mr. Arms, assisted by the Rev. 
4* 



82 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

Charles H. Force, and the Rev. Joseph M. Ogden, 
on Sabbath afternoon, the 9th day of February 
of the year following. Its dimensions are twenty- 
eight feet by forty-five. It is constructed of 
wood, and finished, both within and without, in a 
very neat and simple manner, after the Grecian 
style. It is well carpeted, and otherwise furnish- 
ed with blinds, sofa, solar lamps, &c, and is 
capable of accommodating about two hundred and 
twenty-five persons. The Bible and Hymn-book, 
in the pulpit, were presented by Mr. Benjamin 
Ludlow Brittin, of Arkansas, on the day that the 
house was dedicated. 

The dedication of the lecture-room was among 
the concluding acts of Mr. Arms' ministry in this 
church. On the third day of June following, 
after having held the pastorate for about eighteen 
and a half years, he was dismissed by the Pres- 
bytery of Newark, at his own request, to enter 
his present field of labor, in Ridgebury, Orange 
county, New York ; carrying with him the respect 
and confidence, as well as the kindly wishes, of 
his people. 

About three months after the resignation of Mr. 
Arms, the Rev. S. S. Hughson was employed by 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 83 

the congregation to labor among them as a stated 
supply. He was a native of Chester, in this 
State, and pursued his collegate studies at Ober- 
lin, Ohio, and his theological, at the " Union 
Seminary," in the city of New York. He labored 
here in the capacity just mentioned, with great 
diligence, for a little more than a year, when he 
withdrew to enter his present field of labor in 
Penn Yan, Yates county, New York. 

For one year after Mr. Hughson's retirement, 
the pulpit was supplied by the Rev. John M. 
Johnson, of Morristown. Mr. Johnson, who was a 
son of the late Peter A. Johnson of the place just 
mentioned, graduated at the College of New Jer- 
sey, in the year 1835 ; and pursued his theolog- 
ical studies in the Union Theological Seminary, 
New York. For several years he officiated as the 
pastor of the Presbyterian church, at Hanover, 
until the year 1849, when he was obliged to retire 
from pastoral life, on account of an affliction which 
at one time threatened the total loss of his sight. 
"While he was supplying the pulpit in this place, 
he was instrumental in deciding the congregation 
to relieve themselves of an unpleasant debt of a 
considerable amount, which for some years pre- 



84: PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

viously had proved the occasion of no little diffi- 
culty ; and justice requires that the fact should 
be placed on record, also, that to the efficiency 
and persevering efforts of the ladies of the parish 
this important result is in a great measure to be 
ascribed. In a great variety of ways, Mr. John- 
son rendered the most valuable services to this 
congregation, while they were without a pastor ; 
and his happy influence over this church, it is 
believed, will long be acknowledged and felt by 
this entire community. 

I will only add, that on the sixth day of Decem- 
ber, 1853, the church and congregation united in 
a call to the writer of this history ', to become their 
pastor ; and that on the third day of January, 
1854, he was formally inducted by the Presby- 
tery of Newark, into his present responsible posi- 
tion ; Rev. Job F. Halsey, of West Bloomfield, 
presiding, and proposing the constitutional ques- 
tions ; Rev. Joseph F. Tuttle, of Rockaway 
(brother of the pastor), preaching the sermon, 
on Mark xvi. 15. ; Rev. J. Few Smith, of the Sec- 
ond Church in Newark, delivering the charge to 
the pastor ; and Rev. John M. Johnson, of Morris^ 
town, the charge to the people. 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 85 

The writer, it is hoped, will be pardoned, if, for 
the gratification of his friends, he adds, that he is 
a native of Bloomfield, in this State, being a de- 
scendant, on his mother's side, of Deacon Law- 
rence Ward, one of the first settlers of Newark ; 
and on his father's, of Stephen Tuttle, one of the 
first settlers of Elizabethtown ; that he pursued 
his preparatory studies in Bloomfield ; his col- 
legiate studies in the College of New Jersey, 
where he graduated in the year 1836 ; his theo- 
logical studies under the venerable Dr. Richards, 
in the seminary at Auburn, N. Y., where he 
graduated in the year 1840 ; that in the month 
of October, of the same year, he was licensed by 
the Presbytery of Newark to preach the (xospel ; 
that, three months subsequently, he was installed 
by the same body as the pastor of the Presbyterian 
church at Caldwell, in this State, where he con- 
tinued to labor for about eight and a half years ; 
that, after resigning his charge in that place, he 
spent nearly five years in the service of the Ameri- 
can Bible Society, as their 11 Agent for Connecti- 
cut," and as their " Assistant Secretary" at the 
Bible House, New York ; and that, from the sec- 
retarial department of that institution, he was 



86 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

called to his present position as the pastor of this 
church. 

At the commencement of the present pastorate, 
the following gentlemen constituted the session of 
this church, viz. : Messrs. Ira Burnet, Lewis 
Thompson, Ichabod Bruen, Ashbel Carter, and 
"William P. Conklin. The deacons of the church 
were, Messrs. William Crowell and Ichabod 
Bruen, the former of whom departed this life on 
the 16th of February following. On the 21st day 
of March, immediately ensuing, the church made 
choice of the following individuals, to be added to 
the session, to wit: Messrs. ¥m. M. Muchmore 
and Albert Carter, and Dr. Greorge Cole ; and at 
the same time they elected the following persons 
to the office of deacon, to wit : Messrs. Caleb C. 
Burroughs, Amaza W. Grenung, and David M. 
Force. 

In the month of April following, the congrega- 
tion purchased their present commodious parson- 
age, and fitted it up for their minister. The 
property, which stands on the corner southwest 
of the academy, and was formerly occupied as a 
boarding-school by Mr. Franklin Sherril, was 
bought of Abraham Brittin, Esq., for the sum of 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 87 

nineteen hundred dollars ; and was fitted up at an 
expense of nearly five hundred dollars, under the 
direction of Dr. H. P. Grreen and Mr. James 
Albright, the former of whom was president, and 




THE PARSONAGE. 

the latter, clerk, of the Board of Trustees. The 
dimensions of the building are twenty-two feet by 
forty ; it is two and a half stories high ; and has a 
dry and well-lighted basement. It contains twelve 
finished rooms, and twelve closets and pantries ? 
besides a cellar and coal-room ; a hall, running 
through the centre, twenty-one feet by nine, and 
an inclosed piazza in the rear of it, of forty feet by 
eight. The dining-room in the basement is. about 
eighteen feet square ; while the parlor on the first 



88 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISOX. 

floor, and the study on the second, are each 
twenty-one feet by fourteen. On the property is 
a good barn, well, cistern, &o. ; and the lot con- 
tains a little more than half an acre. Its location 
is one of the finest in this vicinity, commanding 
very extensive and beautiful views in every direc- 
tion. 

In the latter part of March, of the same year, 
the church and congregation were favored with a 
very extensive and precious revival of religion ; 
and it is with unfeigned gratitude and pleasure 
that the writer is able to state, that, during the 
first year of his ministry here, there were received 
into the communion of this church, either by cer- 
tificate, or upon a profession of their faith in 
Christ, but three short of sixty persons. 

The church and congregation have great reason 
to be thankful that they possess and enjoy all the 
various equipments and arrangements of a well- 
ordered Christian parish. Their large, substan- 
tial, and well-appointed sanctuary ; their conve- 
nient and beautiful lecture-room ; their venerable 
and attractive cemetery ; their commodious and 
spacious parsonage ; and all their other conve- 
niences and various appliances for the maintenance 



PEESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISOjST. 89 

of divine worship, place them in a very high rank 
among neighboring congregations. In an outward 
point of view, the society is, perhaps, in a more 
prosperous condition than it has ever been before ; 
and, as far as the spiritualities of the church are 
concerned, we have, all of us, great reason to be 
devoutly thankful. 

With respect to the benevolent operations of the 
parish, it may be proper to add, in this connec- 
tion, that the following societies have been organ- 
ized, and are now in active operation among us, 
to wit: the " Ladies' Missionary Society," which 
contemplates the raising of funds in aid of Foreign 
Missions ; the " Madison Female Bible Society," 
which labors to supply those who are destitute, 
within our limits, with the Holy Scriptures ; the 
"Madison Home Missionary Society," which con- 
templates rendering aid to the Home Missionary 
operations of the day ; and the " Madison Tract 
Society," which is engaged in distributing tracts, 
and other religious publications, from house to 
house within our borders. In addition to these, 
we have among us a vigorous and efficient associa- 
tion, called the " Ladies' Diligent Society," which 
contemplates the furnishing, repairing, &c, of the 



90 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

church and the lecture-room. All these societies 
are diligently employed in their respective spheres, 
and are accomplishing much good. 

The stated religious services of the church, at 
the present time, are as follows : at half-past ten 
on the morning of the Sabbath, divine worship is 
held in the sanctuary ; at three o'clock in the 
afternoon, the Sabbath-school is attended in the 
same place ; and on Sabbath evening, divine ser- 
vice is attended again in the lecture-room. On 
the evening of Tuesday the prayer-meeting, which 
has been regularly maintained for the last sixty- 
five years, is held in the lecture-room ; and on the 
evening of Thursday, a weekly lecture is delivered, 
in the same place. The monthly concert of prayer 
for Home and Foreign Missions, is attended on the 
Sabbath evening preceding the first Monday even- 
ing of each month ; and on the afternoon of the 
Sabbath, the pastor lectures alternately in the 
school-houses at Union Hill, East Madison, and 
Grreen Village. The leading causes of benevo- 
lence are brought before the church at stated in- 
tervals ; that of Foreign Missions being assigned 
for the month of January, and that of Domestic 
Missions for the month of July. The Lord's Sup- 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON". 91 

per is statedly celebrated on the first Sabbaths of 
December, March, June, and September ; the pre- 
paratory lecture being attended on the Saturday 
afternoon preceding each of these seasons. 

The officers of the church at this time are : 
Elders — Messrs. Ichabod Bruen, Lewis Thomp- 
son, Ira Burnet, Ashbel Carter, Wm. P. Conklin, 
Greorge Cole, M.D., William M. Muchmore, and 
Albert Carter. Deacons — Messrs. Ichabod Bruen, 
Caleb C. Burroughs, David M. Force, and Amza 
W. G-enung. Trustees — Henry P. Green, M.D., 
James Albright, G-eo. E. Sayre, Amza W. G-enung, 
William M. Muchmore, and Albert Carter. 

It may be proper to add, as an index of the 
present character of this people, that the congre- 
gation, in its corporate capacity, assumed the 
responsibility of publishing five hundred copies of 
this history, and directed their Board of Trustees 
to take the oversight of the work. 

Such, then, is a brief sketch of the history 
and the present condition of this old church and 
congregation. It is now one hundred and eight 
years since it was organized, and about one hun- 
dred and six years since our first house of worship 
was erected in this place. The worship of God 



92 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

was regularly maintained here by our ancestors 
for a period of nearly thirty years, before the com- 
mencement of the Revolutionary War ; and all 
through that dark and eventful period, our sanc- 
tuary was thrown open from Sabbath to Sabbath, 
for the accommodation of all classes in this com- 
munity. Our old meeting-house stood on yonder 
beautiful eminence, when Washington and his 
army were passing back and forth, on their way 
from the sea-board to the interior ; and while 
they were lying in winter quarters in this 
vicinity, many of them repaired thither to record 
their vows before Grod ; and it is a fact that we 
may be allowed here to state, that when the 
United States were first admitted as an inde- 
pendent sovereignty among the nations of the 
earth, this old church had been in existence, and 
been shedding light upon the paths of men, and 
been gathering in precious souls for heaven, for a 
period of nearly forty years. One year after the 
" Declaration of Independence " was published to 
the world, the first pastor of this church was 
"gathered to his fathers," having been toiling 
here by day and by night, to win souls to the 
Redeemer, for twenty -jive years. For four gener- 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 93 

ations, this church has regularly kept up the 
administration of the Lord's Supper, and main- 
tained all the other rites and observances of our 
holy religion. During all that time, it has been 
throwing up barriers in the way of the progress of 
vice and immorality of every description ; it has 
been conducting inquiring souls to " the Lamb of 
God, which taketh away the sins of the world ;" 
and been pointing the sons and daughters of sor- 
row to Him who came to " bind up the broken- 
hearted." The number of those who have been 
influenced by its various instrumentalities, either 
directly or indirectly, to " walk in wisdom's 
ways," no human being can tell. The record of 
all these is on high. The entire number of those 
who have been actual members of the church, it is 
wholly out of our power to determine. On 
account of the loss of our sessional records, pre- 
vious to the year 1790, we shall never be able to 
know how many, and who, were members here, 
antecedent to that time ; but it is a pleasure that 
we are able to state, that the number of persons 
enrolled upon the catalogue of the church, since 
the period referred to, does not materially vary 
from one thousand. 

6 



94 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. _ 

We are happy, also, to be able to state that nine 
of the children of the church* have gone forth 
from us to proclaim to their fellow men ' ' the un- 
searchable riches of Christ;" and that two others,! 
having become the wives of Home Missionaries, 
are now laboring to build up the Redeemer's king- 
dom in the frontier settlements at the West. 

This church has passed through many trials. 
It has had its enemies, although now, even the 
names of these have passed away for ever from the 
memory of all the living. It has lost many tried 
and self-sacrificing friends. At various periods in 
its history, many persons who have been its firm- 
est pillars, have been removed by death ; and there 
have been many others who have left us at various 
times to locate themselves in other parts of our 
country, and to cast in their influence to build up 
Christian institutions elsewhere. The church has, 

* Rev. Matthias Burnet 5 Rev. Barnabas Bruen ; Rev. Eliazer 
Burnet ; Rev. Franklin Sherrill, of Wisconsin ; Rev. Nathaniel E. 
Pierson, of Orange co., N. Y.; Rev. Charles H. Force, of Otsego co., 
N. Y. ; Rev. Geo. Thompson, missionary to Africa ; Rev. M. L. R. P. 
Thompson, D.D., Buffalo, N. Y. ; Rev. Wilmot Thompson, of Ohio. 

f Mrs. Eliza Carter Orr, wife of the Rev. Robert Orr, of Wis- 
consin, and daughter of the late Lewis Carter ; and Mrs. Caroline 
Keep Lum, wife of the Rev. Samuel Y. Lum, of the territory of 
Kansas, and adopted daughter of Mr. Henry Keep, of this place. 



PEESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 95 

consequently, seen many days when every thing 
seemed to be very dark and unpromising. It has 
passed through periods when it seemed as if it must 
go down ; and yet " the angel of the Lord has en- 
camped round a^out it," and given us abundant 
evidence that, " as the mountains are round about 
Jerusalem, so is the Lord round about his people, 
from henceforth, even for ever." 

In times past, the church has been an object 
of special divine favor. Grod has granted it fre- 
quent and most wonderful outpourings of his 
spirit, in answer to prayer ; many revivals of relig- 
ion have been enjoyed by it, and from generation 
. to generation it has been the object of the divine 
sympathy and care. One flourishing Presbyterian 
church, and three Methodist Episcopal churches, 
and, within the past year, a Protestant Episcopal 
church, f have sprung up within its original bounds, 
and been constituted, in some measure, of those 
who were formerly members of this parish, and 
yet we are not consumed. 

* This congregation is now worshipping in " Oriental Hall 
but having already purchased a lot adjoining the residence of 
Augustus Blanchet, Esq., they intend erecting a church for their 
accommodation, during the ensuing spring. Their rector, Rev. 
John A. Jerome, has been preaching for them now about three 
months. 



96 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

The average number of communicants in the 
church during sixteen of its most prosperous 
years, and when it was the only church in the 
township of Chatham, was two hundred and fifty. 
This was during the pastorate of the Rev. Mr. 
Bergen ; and at the present time, notwithstanding 
all the drafts which have been made upon us by 
all these churches around us, and notwithstand- 
ing the losses which we have sustained by death 
and by removals to other parts of the country, the 
number of our communicants is but little short of 
tivo hundred and forty. Since the church's or- 
ganization, whole generations of its active friends 
and supporters have gone down to the grave, and 
thousands of hearts which have heretofore beat in 
sympathy with it, have been chilled by the hand 
of death ; and there have been junctures in its 
history, arising from these trying dispensations, 
which have sometimes caused the friends of this 
our Zion, to feel profoundly anxious for the future. 
As the pillars of the church have, one after an- 
other, fallen, the prayer has often gone up from 
. this sanctuary, and from these family altars all 
around us, "Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth, 
for the faithful fail from the children of men ;" 



PRESBYTE11IAN CHURCH, MADISOX. 97 

and we have reason to know that that prayer has 
-as often been heard by Him who heareth prayer ; 
and it is oar happiness to know that this old 
church, which we have inherited from our fathers, 
is now neither dead, nor declining, but that under 
the benignant smiles of its adorable Saviour and 
Head, it is still living-, to hold up the lamp of life 
before the world, and to scatter the rich blessings 
of the everlasting Gospel among all those who 
live within its reach. Like a rich merchant-ship, 
it has come down to us, wafted by the prayers of 
the saints, and freighted with the priceless bless- 
ings of redemption, both for ourselves and for the 
world ; and to-day it is our happiness to behold it 
riding quietly upon the great stream of time down 
which it has come, with every sail set, with every 
streamer flying, and under the favoring gales of 
heaven, going down to unborn generations, carry- 
ing with it the same blood-bought blessings which 
it has brought down to us. God bless it ! God 
bless it ! ! Gtod bless it ! ! ! as it floats down to 
the future ! God make it in all time to come, what 
it has been to generations past, and ivhat it is 
still to us ! 

The place where we are now assembled, my 
5 



98 FKESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 

friends, is holy ground. "This is none other than 
the house of God ; this is the very gate of heav- 
en." Here have our fathers often met to record 
their vows before " the Most High." Here have 
they often gathered around the table of the Lord, 
and with broken hearts, partaken of the symbols 
of his love. Here have they met God in his holy 
temple. Here have they enjoyed the visitations 
of divine grace. Here have they met to revive 
their Christian graces — u to trim their lamps, and 
to gird up their loins ;" to gather consolation and 
support under their trials, and to prepare them- 
selves from time to time for the great conflict of 
life. Here have they often sat together u in these 
heavenly places in Christ Jesus," and enjoyed 
sweet foretastes of heaven ; and from this sacred 
mount of privilege have they gone up, one by one, 
to join "the general assembly and church of the 
first-born, whose names are written in heaven." 
Not far from where we are now assembled, their 
precious remains have been intrusted to the earth, 
until the morning of the resurrection. The church 
of God, which was precious in their eyes, with 
all its various instrumentalities and agencies, 
with all its ordinances and means of grace, they 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MADISON. 99 

have most solemnly given in trust unto us.; and 
we have been honored with a place in the succes- 
sion of these Christian worthies. In these cir- 
cumstances, may we not, with propriety, each one 
for himself, declare: "If I forget thee, O Jeru- 
salem, let my right hand forget her cunning : If 
I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to 
the roof of my mouth, if I prefer not Jerusalem 
above my chief joy" ? And shall we not, on this 
thanksgiving morning, with our minds refreshed 
with the contemplation of the faithfulness and lov- 
ing kindness of God towards us as a people, " set 
up our Ebenezer," as Samuel did, and with glad 
hearts and voices, say, li Hitherto hath the Lord 
helped us" ? And with the Psalmist, shall we 
not add, " I will extol thee, my Grod, King, and 
I will bless thy name for ever and ever. One 
generation shall praise thy ivorks to another, and 
shall declare thy mighty acts. Praise the Lord, 
Jerusalem! Praise thy Grod, Zion ! For 
he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates ; he 
hath blessed thy children within thee. Let Israel 
rejoice in him that made him — let the children of 
Zion be joyful in their king. For the Lord taketh 
pleasure in his people ; he will beautify the meek 
with salvation." 



APPENDIX. 



MINISTER S. 



Rev. Nehemiak Green man 1750 

*' Azariah Horton 1752 

" Aaron Richards 1777 

" Ebenezer Bradford 1771? 

" Alexander Miller 1782 

" Asa Hillyer 1789 

" Matthew La Rue Perrine 1801 

" John G. Bergen 1810 

" Daniel Beers 1829 

" Alexander G. Frazer 1832 

11 Clifford S. Arms 1833 

" S. S. Hughson 1852 

u John M. Johnson 1S53 

" Samuel L. Tattle 1854 



103 



10 I 



APPENDIX. 



RULING ELDERS. 



John Pierson, 1758 

Sylvenus Hedges 1760 

Joseph Wood , ( ... 17 Go 

Paul Day 17 G5 

Ephraim Sayre 17S3 

Moses Allen 178G 

Jonathan Nichols 1789 

Jacob Bonnel 1790 

Stephen Day " 

Jonathan Thompson " 

Enos Ward 1795 

Jonathan Bruen 1800 

Samuel Muchmore " 

Aaron Burnet 1804 

Lum Foster " 

Israel Lum 1807 

Benjamin Thompson .... 180S 
Stephen Day " 



William Thompson 1810 

John J. Conkling 1819 

Charles Carter " 

Philip Cockrem " 

Zophar Freeman 1825 

Obadiah Crane, " 

Lewis Thompson " 

William Crowell 1826 

Ichabod Bruen " 

Benjamin Crane 1834 

Ellis C. Thompson " 

John S. Beach " 

Ira Burnet " 

William P. Conklin 1844 

Ashbel Carter " 

George Cole, M.D 1854 



William M. Muchmore . . 

Albert Carter 



DEACONS. 

Sylvenus Hedges 1758 William Thompson 1826 

John Pierson 1760 Zophar Freeman " 

Paul Day 17G5 William Crowell 1834 

Joseph Wood " Ichabod Bruen " 

Jonathan Thompson 1799 Caleb C. Burroughs 1854 

Ephraim Sayre , „ " David M. Force " 

Samuel Muchmore 1801 Amza W. Genung 44 

Moses Allen 1819 



APPENDIX. 



105 



ASSESSORS, COLLECTORS, AND TRUSTEES. 



Daniel Day 1757 

Horrick Benjamin " 

Obadiah Lum " 

Thomas Genung ....... " 

David Corey 1758 

Paul Day " 

Benjamin Ladner " 

Josiah Miller 1759 

William Burnet " 

Nathaniel Bonnel 1760 

Thomas Day K 

Silas Hand " 

Isaac Winans 1761 

Benjamin Day " 

Stephen Day " 

Stephen Hand, Jun " 

Aaron Burnet, Jun " 

Jabez Foster " 

Nathan Wilkinson ' : 

Aaron Burnet 1762 

Joseph Day " 

James Tichenor 1763 

John Pierson " 

Abraham Corey 1764 

Luke Carter, 1765 

Joseph Foster " 

Joseph Winget " 

James Burnet 1766 

Ellis Cook 1767 

Ananias Halsey " 

5* 



John Harris 1767 

Thomas Bonnel " 

David Bruen 1768 

David Ward " 

Benjamin Carter 1769 

Samuel Frost 1770 

Jacob Morrel " 

Theophilus Miller 1771 

Enos Ward " 

Josiah Hand " 

Josiah Broadwell 1772 

Jonathan Thompson .... 1774 

Elias Bruen " 

George Carter " 

John Bonnel " 

Aaron Carter 1775 

Joseph Wood 1777 

John Dixon 1778 

Israel Ward.... " 

Josiah Burnet " 

SethCrowell « 

John Roberts 1780 

Ephraim Say re " 

Joseph Miller u 

David Ward, Jun " 

William Butler 1783 

Thomas Carter 1784 

Uzal Corey " 

Thomas Coy le 1 7 S5 

Jonathan Nichols " 



106 



APPENDIX. 



John Crowell 1789 

Foster Horton 1790 

John Blanchard " 

Daniel Burnet " 

Thaddeus Day " 

Benjamin Cook 1791 

Luther Howell " 

James Donaldson 1792 

William Day " 

Samuel Gardner 4< 

Moses Allen " 

Jacob Bonnel 1793 

Jonathan Bruen 1795 

Samuel Denman " 

Samuel Much more " 

Joseph Bruen " 

Philip Cockrem 1797 

Simeon Broadwell 1800 

Thomas Eddy 11 

Stephen Day, Jun 1801 

Archibald Sayre 1802 

William Brittin 1803 

Benjamin Bruen " 

Silas Ward « 

Nathaniel Roberts 11 

William Thompson 1804 

Ichabod Bruen " 

Matthias Ward 44 

Abraham Burnet 44 

Luke Miller 1805 

El ias Woodruff " 

Silas Jag-gers 44 

Aaron Burnet 44 

William Eddy 1806 

Elijah Ward <• 

William Spencer 11 

John Ward 1807 



Flavel Woodruff 180S 

Daniel Crane " 

Luke Carter " 

Samuel Denman " 

John Caldwell " 

Caleb Blanchard " 

Ebenezer C. Pierson 1809 

David Bowers 1810 

Elias Howell 1811 

Benjamin L. Day 1816 

Benjamin P. Lum 1819 

Lewis Carter 1821 

Samuel Roberts " 

Jeptha B. Munn, M.D 1822 

Thomas Darling 1824 

Isaac Brittin " 

Benjamin Douglass 1827 

William Sayre u 

Aaron Carter 1828 

Samuel P. Thomas 1830 

Stephen P. Stiles " 

Ellis C. Thompson " 

Ashbel Carter " 

Ashbel Bruen " 

WickliffH.Genung " 

David Burnet, Jun 1832 

Collin Robinson " 

Walter Sturges " 

John B.Miller *f 

Henry P. Green, M.D. . . 1833 

Abraham Brittin 1836 

Isaac Mills 1838 

Robert Albright " 

Amza W. Genung 1839 

Luther Eddy " 

Ezra Howell 1840 

William P. Conklin « 



.APPENDIX. 



107 



Matthias L. Burnet 1840 

Stephen D. Hunting 1841 

Henry Keep 1 8*2 

Ira Burnet 1848 

Charles Ross " 

George T. Sayre 1851 

Benjamin Birdsall " 

George E. Sayre 1852 



James Albright 1853 

Joseph S. Pay re 1854 

Samuel Roberts. Jun 

William W. Beach t; 

William M. Muchmore. . . " 

Albert Carter u 

David M. Force 1855 



Copy of the First Minute. Entered upon the Reeords of this Parish 



"South hanover Wednesday y e 7 lh of September Anno D 1757. 

At a meating appointed and met at the meating house and pro- 
ceaded in the Mowing manor, By way of Yoats — 

Aatoa Burnet moderator Stephen Morehouse, Clark 
ObadiahLum & thomas geanung assessors Daniel Day and horick 
Benjamin Collectors Voated that Mr horton shall have Seventy 
pound Sallery for y° comeing yeare Paul Day and Benjamin 
Ladnor appointed to make up aoounts with all y c Collectors for 
several years past and to Endeavor that all old Rearages in Mr 
hortons Rats (rates) Be made good to him thomas Day Esq appoint- 
ed to Secure a Deed for a Certain acre of Land wich has Ben pur* 
chased of David hamelton or Else the money to Be Rated Benja^ 
min Ladnor appointed to keep as a trustea all the writings Be* 
longing to this Congregation ■ 

Jin Extrir.t from the Parish Records in reference to Psalmody. 

'■ thursday Janu r y * 11 th 1759 / 

at a meating appointed and met at this house and passed y e fol- 
lowing voats namely 1 that y e Reav d Mr Joans should Be moder- 
ator and y e Reav d Mrs. (Messrs.) Horton and Elenmore preasent to 
assist in the S-dtl'mg of the Dtferances Relating to y e Psalms 
2 that we shall no more Sing Both Yertions as formerly But that 
we Shall now pass a Voat wich shall be Sung hully 3 Voated 
that Wats's Vertion shall be Sung here hully for time to come 
then D'sm : ssed y e Reav d Mrs. (Messrs.) .loans,, horton and Elenmore 



APPENDIX. 



109 



and Yoated Ct. Bonnel moderator, and Samuel fraust & 

Isaac Winans to Lead the psalm-tune Voated to have pues 

Built all Round this house and Seats in y e midle " 

Copy of the Minutes in reference to the finishing of the old Heeling House. 

i: Wednsday September the 5 year 1764 South hanover 

At a parish meeting appointed and mett att this house and 
passed the following votes viz Chose Beniamin Day Esquire mod- 
erator 

Stephen hand Jr. Clark — Josiah miller and James tichenor as- 
sessors Ben Day Esquy and abraham Corey Collectors — voted 
that Josiah Broadwell Esqy and Jacob morral shall have Liberty 
to Build a pue at the West End of the house voted that the old 
Committee Be Dissolved voted That Beniamin Day Esqy and 
Thomas genong and Josiah miller Be a new Committee for to 
have the Care of the finishing of the meeting house" 

Monday Septemb r the ..24 th yr 1764 att a parish meeting ap- 
pointed and met at this house and passed the folowing votes viz 
Chose Decon John pierson moderator 

1 voted that Josiah Broadwell and Jacob morral Shall Build a 
pue at the west end of the Meeting house adjoyning to the corner 
pne 

2 voted that David Bruing Do Build a pue next To Mr Broad- 
well 

3 voted that Silas hand Do Build a pue next to Mr Bruing 

4 voted that Josiah hand and William Burnet Do Build a pue 
in the front gallery over the mens stairs 

5 voted Aaron Burnet Jr do Build a pue in the front gallery 
next to Josiah hand and William Burnet 

6 voted that Josiah miller and Luke Carter Do Build the third 
pue in the front gallery 

7 voted that James tichenor and Samuel Robbarts Do Build 
the fourth pue in the front gallery over the womans stairs 

8 voted that Beniamin Sayres and Stephen Robbarts Do Build 
the first pue in the East End gallery next to the stairs 



110 APPENDIX. 



9 voted that Israel ward and nehemiah Carter Do Build the 
third pue in the East End gallery 

N. B all the aforsaid votes were Carried in the affirmative when 
the greater part of the Congregation were present *' 

Other Short Extracts from the Parish Records. 

"Southanover September the 3 d year 1771 

voted at the anual meeting appointed according to obligation 
and passed the following votes viz voted David Bruing moderator 
and Stephen hand Jr Clark 

voted that Thomas genong Elis Cook Abraham Corey and 
Samuel frost give mr horton Jointly a Bond for what is Due to 
him By his old Arrears and to take the old arrears or accompts 
in Lue thereof and to Colect the Same in any manner they Think 
Best 

voted David ward and Josiah hand assessors Theophilus miler 
and Enos ward Colectors'' 

"1776 at a meeting Appointed and held here in this house 
Called the Southanover parish meeting house on wensday the 4 U1 
day of September and passed the following votes viz Chose Decon 
paul day moderator Chose David Bruing James Burnet and paul 
day a Committee to go to the prisbittery with mr horton the 
second tuesday in October next Insuing upon the parrish affairs'' 

"At a Parrish meeting held at the South Hanover meeting house 
May 2i 1779 — voted Joseph Wood Esq moderator — Voted that 
the pasnige house and home lot should not be hired out 

voted that Stephen Day Esquier and John Blanchard and Caleb 
Rusel should setle with the manegers of the Lottery 

voted that one of the Committy Should Carrey the Letter that 
mr green rote to Mr Bradford and they that voted for it to bee 
att the expense. 

voted that that piece of pasnige by Jonathan Thompson should 
be hired out 

voted that we should get mr green to preach a Sermon for us 
one Sabath and mr Elmore the other 

voted that Ephraim Sear should assist in tuning the Salm" 



APPENDIX. 



Ill 



"May y p 28 1779 this Day whas rented out by the Committy 
for the use of the parrish that piece of pasnedge land by Jonathan 
Thompson to Aaron Carter by Public Vandew for 62 pound for 
wich he is to improve it to the first of December next from the date 
above riten" 

" At a Parrish meeting held at South Hanover meeting House on 
March 28 th 1780 Joseph Wood Esq moderator 

Voted that a sallery of One Hundred and Forty Pounds New 
Jersey Currency (to be paid Old way) is to be raised for Mr 
Bradford for one year exclusive of the Parsonage and his being 
found in wood 

voted that a committee be chosen for taking care of the Par- 
sonage and see what wants doing and to employ some person to 
do it 

voted that some Person be chose to take care of the meeting 
House and to Keep it Swept and Clean it David Laurence Chose 
and also Keep the Doors Shutt 

voted that Contributions be Kept up every Sabbath and David 
Bruen to Receive the contribution money" 

<; April 26 1785 — voted that Jonathan Nichols is to have the 
care of the Meeting house to Shutt the Doors and Windows and to 
sweep and Sand it once a month for which he is to have twenty 
five shillings per year" 

" June 7 1794 — voted that Jonathan Nichols shall have sixpence 
on the Pound for Collecting the Salery — also that the collections 
shall be quarterly and at the end of the year all the Delinquents 
Shall have Notis to pay Within thirty Days or have their Names 
Returned to a Justis of peace"' 

" March 16 1795 — voted that Mr Hillyer shall have one hun- 
dred and thirty Pounds for his salary in addition to the parsonage 
and his fire wood" 

" South Hanover July 22 IS 01 

At a Parish meeting Jacob Bonncl was chosen Moderator and 
Jonathan Bruen clerk 



112 



APPENDIX. 



Mr Hillyer Laving previously informed the congregation that 
after serious and mature deliberation ho thought it was his duty 
to request the Presbytery to dissolve the pastoral relation to this 
Church, desired the Congregation to unite with him in this 
request. 

The Congregation with inexpressible pleasure recapitulated Mr 
Hillyer's various Ministerial services and the uninterrupted Har- 
mony and Friendship that had subsisted between them and with 
mournful dejection were constrained to anticipate their afflicted 
situation should so -near a relation be dissolved ; and although it 
would be the unanimous wish of the Congregation that Mr Hil- 
lyer should continue to be their pastor, if he could see it to be his 
duty and feel himself contented and happy with them — yet as he 
appears to be conscious that he has a Call in Providence to leave 
them and can no longer be contented in his present situation — 
the Congregation sincerely desirous of the happiness and prosper- 
ity of Mr Hillyer and his family, taking into view his request 
were not disposed to urge him to continue to be their pastor. 
Therefore resolved unanimously to concur with him in requesting 
the Presbytery at their next meeting to dissolve the pastoral rela- 
tions between Mr Hillyer and this Church. 

Jacob Bonnel was appointed a commissioner to represent this 
congregation and to lay the above resolution before the Presbytery 
at New York on the first Tuesday of August next. 1 ' 

"August 31. 1811 Rev Matthew La Rue Perrine presented a 
communication addressed to the Moderator in which he expressed 
his desire to be dismissed from the pastoral care of this Church 
and the hope that the Parish would not oppose him in this wish 
— whereupon the congregation voted neither to favor or oppose 
Mr. Perrine in reference to this matter — but to leave it wholly 
to himself and the Presbytery." 

" The parish appointed William Brittin, Elijah Ward and Ebe- 
nezer C. Pierson to procure supplies for the pulpit in case Mr 
Perrine is dismissed." 

" They agree to give to settled ministers three dollars and to 



APPENDIX. 



113 



unsettled ministers six dollars a sabbath for their services in sup- 
plying the pulpit." 

"They elected Ephraim Sayres to furnish entertainment for the 
supplies of the pulpit.'' 

Dec 21. 1811 

" The parish unanimously agreed to give to Mr Perrine a new 
call to become their pastor and to offer him six hundred dollars a 
year salary together with thirty cords of good merchantable wood. 
The Committee to prosecute the call consisted of Elias Howell and 
Benjamin Thompson. " 

" May 1. 1812 The Committee to prosecute the above call re- 
ported that in view of all the circumstances of the case Mr Per- 
rine had concluded not to renew his engagement as the pastor of 
this Church.-' 

August 11. 1828 Resolved — In view of Rev Mr Bergens re- 
quest to be dismissed from the pastoral care of this Church — that 
while "a large proportion of this congregation are still strongly 
attached to their pastor and deeply regret the circumstances 
which have led him to request them to unite with him in asking a 
dissolution of the pastoral relation subsisting between himself and 
them — they will make no opposition to his taking such a course 
as he with the concurrence of the Presbytery may think it his 
duty to pursue."' 

" May 29. 1851 An application having been placed before the 
Congregation by Rev C. S. Arms for the appointment of commis- 
sioners to unite with him in requesting to be dismissed from the 
pastoral care of this Church — the following resolutions were 
unanimously adopted — 

1. Resolved That we cherish a high sense of the value and im- 
portance of the past services of Mr Arms during his long and suc- 
cessful labors among us in the work of the ministry, and we rejoice 
to bear testimony to his fidelity and uniform devotion to his work, 
and to his pastoral care, in his readiness ever to sympathise with 



114 



APPENDIX: 



the afflicted, cheer the desponding, comfort the sorrowing, relieve 
the distressed, and point the inquiring soul to the Savior of sin- 
ners. And we aLo bear testimony to his unimpeachable character 
as a man, as a citizen, always studying the things that make for 
peace. 

2. Resolved That we deeply sympathise with Mr Arms in the 
failure of his health : and regret the existence of auy circum- 
stances which render it necessary in his judgment to seek the dis- 
solution of his pastoral relation. 

3. Resolved That while we feel constrained to acquiesce in his 
request, it gives us pleasure to express our undiminished confi- 
dence in him as a man, a christian and a minister of Jesus Christ ; 
aud we would follow him with our prayers and best wishes for his 
future usefulness and comfort wherever the Lord in his Provi- 
dence shall call him to labor. 

4. Remembering the many years that Mr Arms has labored 
with this people, and in yiew of the impaired state of his health 
in which he retires from us, we feel it to be an act of justice to 
him and a pleasure to ourselves to offer him a substantial token 
of our esteem." 

Residences of the first sett'ers in and about Jlkidison. 

•• Benjamin Carter the first, resided on the place opposite the 
toll gate, since occupied by Capt Mallaby. His son. of the same 
name, lived in the house which was burned down a few years 
since near the railroad, and which has been occupied more re- 
cently by Mr Joseph Burrall. Jeremiah Genung lived at East 
Madison on the place now occupied by Mr. Storrs. Luke Carter 
resided on the place owned by his grandson, Mr Ashbel Carter. 
Jusiah Miller occupied the house which has since been the resi- 
dence of his son Major Luke Miller. Theophilus Miller resided 
on what was afterwards the homestead of Deacon Ephraim Sayre. 
Stephen Hand occupied an old house which stood where Mr 
George E. Sayre now lives. Abraham Cory lived on the property 
now occupied by Mahlon Carter in East Madison. David Cory 
lived where William W. Tunis now resides. Silas Hand occupied 
the house where Mr John Knapp now lives. Josiah Hand lived 



APPENDIX. 



115 



where his stepson, the late John Hancock, formerly resided. 
Lemuel Hedges lived where his grandson, Samuel Hedges, now 
resides. Zebedee Potter lived on the property since occupied by 
the late Calvin Howell. Mosses Potter occupied the old house 
in the lot beyond the residence of John Johnston, belonging to 
Lavielle Deberseau. James Burnet lived on the corner now 
occupied by the Presbyterian Parsonage. Aaron Burnet — the 
father of James, resided near the factory of David L Miller. 
Horick Benjamin resided on the site of Mr. Lathrop's farm house, 
near the pine tree. Jonathan Thompson resided at first in the 
vicinity of David L. Miller's factory, but afterwards on the site of 
Mr .Lathrop's farm house, in which Mr. Benjamin had lived before 
him. Samuel Roberts the first, settled on the property now occu- 
pied by his grandson Joseph Roberts, on the road leading to 
Greenvillage. Stephen Easton lived a little below the house 
now occupied by David M. Pierson. John Easton resided on the 
property afterwards occupied by Vincent Boisaubin, but now 
owned and occupied by A. M. Treadwell. John Muchmore, father 
of Deacon Samuel and John T. Muchmore. lived on the place for- 
merly occupied by Stephen Easton, but now by David M. Pierson, 
on Cherry Hill. Joseph Wingate resided on the farm belonging 
to the estate of the late Ashbel Bruen, on the road leading from 
Union Hill to Green village. Daniel, Thomas, Stephen and Dea- 
con Paul Day. all resided in the vicinity of the brook between 
Union Hill and Chatham village. David Bruen, the grandfather 
of Alexander and Deacon Ichabod, resided on the property for- 
merly occupied by Benjamin Carter, by the toll gate. Joseph 
Bruen, father of Alexander and Iohabod, resided on the hill be- 
tween the residences of the Widow Samson and Elias Bruen. 
Jabez Linsley lived on the hill opposite the residence of the late 
Benjamin Marsh. Benjamin Ladncr occupied the place next 
east of the homestead of Deacon C. C. Burroughs. William 
Butler lived in a house that is still standing between the old 
road and the railroad, nearly opposite the residence of Charles 
Marsh. Obadiah Lunn occupied the property which after- 
wards belonged to Theophilus Miller, and still more recently to 
Deacon Ephraim Sayre. David, Thomas and Israel Ward lived 



116 



APPENDIX. 



between Chatham village and Union Hill. Nathaniel Bonnel 
resided near the mills now owned by Crane Bonnel. John Bonnel 
lived near the grist mill a little south of the village of Chatham. 
Thomas Genung occupied the property now owned by his grand- 
son Deacon A. TV. Genung. Benjamin Harris lived in a house 
which is yet standing next east of the house formerly belonging to 
Deacon Ephraim Sayre. Deacon Joseph "Wood lived in a small 
hou&e which stood on the site of John B. Miller's present res- 
idence. Benjamin Burroughs lived on the farm which has since 
belonged to Baxter Sayre. Ellis Cook lived on the south east 
corner by the academy. Aaron Carter resided where his son 
Aaron now lives in Union Hill. Captain John Blanchard 
lived where William Young now resides. Jacob Morrell, son-in- 
law of the first pastor of the church in Madison, resided on the 
site of the Presbyterian Parsonage in Chatham village. Foster 
Horton, son of the first pastor aforesaid, lived on the place ad- 
joining the residence of Mr. Morrell, towards the river : and there 
it was that the Rev. Azariah Horton and Eunice his wife both 
" saw the last of earth."' 

MADISON IN 1854, 
The village of Madison now contains about one hundred and 
twenty dwelling houses ; six stores ; one large umbrella manufac- 
tory owned by Mr. Henry Keep ; fifteen or sixteen shops ; one 
Presbyterian church ; a Presbyterian Lecture Room ; a Methodist 
Episcopal church ; a Roman Catholic church ; an academy ; one 
hotel, called the " Waverly House," and kept by Col. Stephen D. 
Hunting •, a Post office ; a railroad depot ; and a large and very 
commodious village hall, called " the Oriental Hall," which has 
been erected during the last year by members of the "Odd Fellows' 
Association." 

A new Protestant Episcopal church has just been organized in 
the village ; and an edifice is to be erected for their accommodation 
during the coming season, on the lot south-east of the residence 
of Mr. Augustus D. Blanchet, which has already been purchased 
for that purpose ; the society, for the present, worshipping in the 
" Oriental Hall." 



APPENDIX. 



117 



The ministers now located in the village are the Rev. Joseph 
Gaskill, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church ; the Rev. John 
A. Jerome, pastor of the Protestant Episcopal church ; the Rev. 
Messrs. Michael Madden and Patrick McGovern, of the Roman 
Catholic church, and the Rev. Samuel L. Tuttle, of the Presby- 
terian church. 

The scenery in and about the village is among the most attrac- 
tive to be found any where in our country ; while its extraordinary 
healthfulness, and its facilities for travelling, by means of the 
Morris and Essex Railroad, which passes through the very heart 
of it, combine to render it one of the most desirable places for 
residence to be found anywhere in this vicinity. 

[From the Palladium of Liberty.] 
Reception of Lafayette at Bottle Hill. 

General Lafayette left Morristown at an early hour on Friday, 
the loth inst.. and arrived at the house of Col. S. D. Hunting at 
about half past 7 o'clock, A. M., where the citizens, numbering 
about 200, and the scholars of the school, had been anxiously 
awaiting his arrival for more than an hour ; his arrival in the 
village being announced by the firing of cannon and the ringing 
of bells. When he arrived at the house appointed for his recep- 
tion, he was waited upon by the committee, Col. Wm, Brittin and 
Col. S. D. Hunting, and conducted under an arch tastefully 
arranged, and decorated with evergreens, into the house, where 
refreshments were bountifully spread. The Rev. John G. Bergen 
then addressed the General as follows : " Revered and Honored 
Father, Ave give you a hearty welcome to our happy land. As a 
minister of Christ I address you. With my parishioners, I have 
come to yield you our congratulations, as the early patriot of our 
country, the early companion of our beloved Washington, now no 
more. Honourable Sir : May the highest felicity attend you 
during your stay in our happy land! May the protection of 
Heaven bear you safely on the waves of the Ocean to the bosom of 
your family, and the blessings of God reston you forever, through 
Jesus Christ!" To which the General replied: " Accept, dear 
Sir, my congratulations for yourself, your village and your coun- 



113 



APPENDIX. 



try. and my thanks for your kind desires for my welfare.'' The 
General was then conducted into an adjoining room, where the 
Ladieswere assembled ; where, also, the young Misses of the Acad- 
emy were arranged, dressed in white, and tastefully adorned 
with flowers and evergreens, under the care of their Teacher, 
John T. Derthick. As soon as they were presented to the notice 
of the General, thirteen of them, representing the thirteen orig- 
inal States, stepped out, and, in concert, all as one, pronounced 
the following address, in a clear, distinct, and impressive manner : 

All hail to the Hero ! Columbia's great friend, 
Whose fame will resound till creation shall end : 
Now welcome, thrice welcome, to our happy clime. 
Where Virtue is honoured in Freedom sublime. 

You sought us when weak, and you found us when poor, 
But now we are strong and the conflict is o"er ; 
We tender our homage, extend you our banc's, 
And gratitude every bosom expands. 

The loss of our Washington still we regret, 

But almost behold him in thee, Lafayette ; 

And could his good spirit now look from the dead, 

The Heavens would scarcely retain the blest shade. 

Now fare you well, Father, we see you no more, 
The Ocean will bear you away from our shore : 
May Fortune attend you across the broad main, 
Until your own daughters embrace you again ! 

The eyes of the General appeared to wander over and survey 
the interesting group : when the name of Washington sounded on 
his ear his countenance became grave, and his attention appeared 
fixed, as if holding intercourse with the spirit of the departed 
Washington. Two of the young Misses now presented each a 
copy of their address to him. The General then very affection- 
ately addressed the scholars, repeatedly thanking them for their 
attention to him, for their friendly address, and especially for 
the manner of delivering it. He then stood for a moment, as if 
enjoying the scene, till his attendants interfered, and led him out 



APPENDIX. 



119 



of the room. Col. Brittin then conducted him to where there 
were refreshments, and, after an interchange of good feeling, the 
General was conducted to bis carriage, and the cavalcade moved 
off in the direction of Newark, where he was to be next re- 
ceived, &c. 

Extract from Ike Parish Records in reference to this history. 

i: Jan 6. 1855 — Resolved That Rev. Samuel L. Tuttle be re- 
quested to furnish a copy of the sermon preached by him on 
Thanksgiving day in relation to the history of this church and 
congregation ; and that the Trustees take the charge of its pub- 
lication.*' 



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